


get lost (I'd die for you in a heartbeat)

by riverdalenerdlol



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alice Cooper is a good mom, Angst, BAMF Betty Cooper, BUT they're also gonna fall in love, Betty's pretty cool if I do say so myself, Cheerleader Betty Cooper, Detective Betty Cooper, Editor Betty Cooper, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, FP Jones II tries, Graphic Violence, Kidnapping, Northside!Betty Cooper, Or don't, Polly and Hal kinda suck ngl, Slow Burn, Southside Serpent Jughead Jones, There will be violence, and Betty's here to solve it, and Jughead also wants to solve it but by himself, and they're both assholes to each other, call it a plot device for me to sandwich them together, he's not the best at parenting but he's pretty good in comparison to others, she can keep up with the boys, so you can imagine the animosity, the slowest burn you ever did see, the violence gets more graphic as these idiots fall in love, there do be a mystery here, up to you
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:33:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29309631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riverdalenerdlol/pseuds/riverdalenerdlol
Summary: “Mom?” Betty calls into the house, peering around the corner.No response.As she makes her way into the kitchen and dining room area, Betty sees the door to the backyard has been haphazardly left wide open. The curtain attached to the inward side blows in the evening breeze.Before doing much else, Betty secures that door, shutting it and locking it. When she’s finished she faces the kitchen.It’s vacant… except for something unfamiliar left on the kitchen island.Betty walks over, her head tilting in concern. There’s a piece of paper taped to a rock and… blood pooled under it. She rips the note off of the stone, still confused."Your mother says hi."--OR: When Alice gets kidnapped, Betty's taken into protection by the Southside Serpents. She meets Jughead Jones. They do not get along.An enemies to lovers, investigative, slow burn AU
Relationships: Alice Cooper & FP Jones II, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 81
Kudos: 125





	1. Party of Two

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hollsbolls](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollsbolls/gifts).



> I'd like to preface this by saying the way this first chapter ends poses more questions than it answers and that the next chapter will hopefully bring more clarity to the situation described down the page. 
> 
> Betty will be kicking and punching motherfuckers and she does it pretty well, IMO. Yes, she will eventually kick Jughead in the face for being an asshole and a prick. And TBH they're both assholes to each other. They will continue to be assholes to each other for the entirety of the fic so long as they're both conscious. 
> 
> I currently have 10 chapters planned but that may get shortened as we go along - I'm not sure yet. Depends on how the writing goes. 
> 
> This'll be fun. It's my first enemies to lover fic. They don't ever really become friends unless you count friendships where two people are constantly fighting each other lmao. They will likely become more civil than they begin.

“Put down the knife.” 

“This one?” 

She re-aimed the pistol and smirked. 

“That one.” 

_BANG_

**\---**

Betty Cooper of 111 Elm Street always believed she had a mostly normal childhood. She was the youngest in their family. For the longest time, Betty was happy. She lived with her two loving parents and her sister, Polly. Her mother, Alice, was quite strict and often expected a lot out of her children. Hal was a generally fun-loving father, and had a lot of fun with Betty when teaching her about the mechanics of cars, or throwing around a football with her. 

Betty knew her parents’ marriage wasn’t perfect, as they were prone to petty arguments, but they were a mostly happy family. Though her mother could be cold at times, Betty knew she was always ready for a good hug. Polly could be standoff-ish but Betty knew that her sister cared for her deeply. Her father was kind and warm, and always had a smile on his face. 

It blindsided Betty when she woke up on the morning of her tenth birthday to find that her father had disappeared. 

She couldn’t quite remember how her mother told her, but Polly had been there… and Polly had been quite upset. Her sister, fifteen years old at the time, ran off to her room, and Betty… 

Well, Betty cried. Alice picked her up and held her as she cried and cried and cried. 

Polly never forgave Alice for what she saw as driving her father away. The fighting between Betty’s parents turned into the fighting between her sister and mother. What hurt more was the latter - the two family members she had left suddenly couldn’t stand each other. Because Betty often went to her mother for comfort, Polly came to dislike her, too. 

The morning after her high school graduation, Polly had abandoned them just like Hal had. She’d left in the middle of the night with all of the stuff she needed. Her bedroom was left bare. 

Betty, barely thirteen at the time, tried and tried and tried again to call her sister. Polly had changed her phone number and went off the grid. 

Alice sat Betty down that day, apologizing for having been so controlling and running away her father and sister. She promised Betty she would be supportive of her, no matter what, and told her that she wanted to be there for her. 

“I want to go out for cheerleading in high school,” she told Alice. “Would you… still support me then?” 

Alice grabbed her daughter’s hands, smiling through her tears. “Support you? I’ll be in the front row at every football game you cheer at.”

Her mother was there to help her practice her audition for a month before the tryout. They played video games and watched movies, and Betty even got her mother to throw her old football around sometimes. They started telling each other everything and Alice got Betty invested in journalism through the local newspaper she ran, _The Riverdale Register._

On the side, Alice also taught Betty self defense. Betty didn’t quite understand at first why her mother was teaching her hand-to-hand combat so out of the blue. 

In ninth grade, though, Betty found a young and immature Reggie Mantle making fun of Dilton Doiley in the hallways. Archie Andrews, Betty’s estranged friend from when they were younger, was trying to intervene but Betty could tell that Archie was much too soft to do anything _substantial_ to stop it. 

Without muttering a single word, Betty tapped on Reggie’s shoulder, getting him to face her. She feigned a smile and friendly wave… then nailed him in the nose with a 360 roundhouse kick. Reggie dropped Dilton’s glasses and scurried away, leaving Betty to pick up the thick, black frames and return them to the trembling boy. 

Betty was carted off to the principal’s office right after Reggie was. Their parents were called. They were both suspended - Reggie for bullying and Betty for lashing out the way she did. Betty only got a lesser sentence because she was defending another student, the principal told them privately. 

When Alice Cooper was contacted later that night and given the news that Betty had broken Reggie’s nose, she pretended to be disappointed while on the phone with Mrs. Mantle. As soon as the call had ended, however, she gave her daughter a high-five and treated her to a milkshake from Pop’s. 

On the day of the cheerleading audition, Betty made a new friend - Veronica Lodge. Together they made the Junior Varsity cheer team. They were inseparable. Betty reconnected with her childhood best friend and neighbor, Archie Andrews, shortly after that. They quickly formed a friend group together, to include Kevin Keller and sometimes Reggie Mantle (he’d become much more mature since Betty broke his nose, leaving his bullying days behind him). 

Betty never told her friends about what happened to her dad or sister, even when Kevin and Veronica came over for sleepovers every other week. She and Alice had resolved to let all of that past pain flow like water under the bridge. They sometimes talked about it with each other, but they never went to other people with that particular subject. 

As Betty continued through high school, she and Veronica progressed to the Varsity cheer team in their Sophomore year. Betty started running Varsity track and became editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, _The Blue and Gold._

Alice, in turn, kept her promises. At every football game Betty cheered, her mother was on the front row. At every track meet, Alice cheered her on. Most of the pictures on Betty’s phone were of her and her mother, both with gigawatt smiles, and she was either dressed in her track or cheerleading uniform. 

Betty had lived for so long with her mother being her only blood-related family that it was hard to remember a time when her sister and father were around. Still, she was happy. Alice was happy. 

By October of her senior year, Betty had already been accepted via early admissions applications by Yale, Brown, and Columbia. With only a few days left before fall break, Betty had no idea of the ways things would change for her so rapidly. 

**\---**

“Betty!” Alice calls from downstairs. “You’re going to be late! Last day before fall break!” 

“Coming!” Betty replies, running down the stairs while slinging her backpack onto her shoulders. At the bottom of the stairs is where Betty finds her mother, holding out a to-go breakfast for her daughter. “Thanks,” she says, taking the brown paper bag and hugging Alice. 

“How do you feel about Pop’s for dinner?” 

“Sounds great.” Betty pulls out of the hug to smile at her mom. 

“I’ll pick it up after you get home from cheer,” Alice says. “You _do_ have cheer today, right?” 

“Yeah. We don’t have a game for two weeks but Cheryl’s making us come in to polish everything up so we can hit the ground running after break.” 

“You go have fun then,” her mother smiles. “Have a good day, Elizabeth.” 

“You too, mom,” Betty replies, hugging her mom one more time before scurrying out the front door. She pulls her car keys out of her pocket then looks up to see the one and only Archie Andrews waiting on the sidewalk, twiddling his thumbs in his blue and gold letterman jacket. 

Archie had always been one of Betty’s good friends from elementary school, mostly because they had known each other forever. He had bright red hair and soft brown eyes, as well as a smile that made most of the female population at their high school swoon. _Most_ did not include Betty, as she had always seen him as a brother she never had. They were best friends, after all, and she knew of someone who _was_ interested in him. 

“Betty!” he says, striding over as she gets down onto the driveway. 

“Hey, Arch. What’s up?” Betty asks. “Need a ride?” 

“N-No… I um… wanted to ask you if you wanted to…” He looked quite pale and a little sweaty - not unusual for the sometimes timid football player, but Betty could tell this sweat was from nerves. Archie had a good heart, and he was a great friend. “I was wondering if you wanted to go to homecoming with me?” 

Betty knew homecoming was coming up. Spirit week was after fall break, and concluded with Riverdale High’s Friday night football game against the Baxter High Ravens. 

She also knew a few other things. One, that she was not interested in Archie the way he was interested in her. Two, that _Veronica_ was interested in Archie. And three, that she had been planning on going as a third wheel to Kevin and his (undisclosed, closeted) date that was on the football team. (And four, that if Veronica didn’t have a date she was probably just going to hang with her… but she was waiting on Archie.) 

“Sorry, Arch,” Betty replies. “I can’t.” 

“Are you not going to be there?” 

“Well… I am, but,” she continues, swallowing nervously. She wants to use the right words when addressing her childhood best friend. “There’s a _certain someone_ that really wants you to ask them.” 

“Josie?” 

“No.” 

“Uh… Melody?” 

“This certain someone is not in the Pussycats, Arch.” 

“Is it… Veronica?” 

“Yes, it is,” Betty tells him. “She would really, _really_ like to go with you.” 

“She does?” Archie’s eyes lit up mostly when thinking about girls, Betty knew. This conversation was no exception. 

“She really does. Listen, I won’t tell her about this conversation if you don’t… but I really do think you’d have a better time going with her than me.” Betty claps him on the shoulder platonically. “So ask _her._ _Today.”_

“Yeah, sounds good,” Archie says. “Can I still get that ride?” 

“Hop in, doofus.” 

About twenty minutes later, Betty walked into the _Blue and Gold_ to find Veronica and Kevin waiting for her. After assuring Veronica that Archie would be asking her to homecoming later that day, Betty received an excited hug and a gourmet pastry. 

**\---**

After enduring her AP Literature class and a productive free period in the _Blue and Gold,_ Betty made it to lunch with Veronica, Archie (who had finally asked the previous to homecoming), and Kevin. Betty was going over Kevin’s submission for his weekly gossip column when Reggie interrupted, coming from the football team’s table. 

“Hey, Coop,” he greets, getting Betty’s head to turn. 

“What’s up, Reggie? Need a tutoring session before the Biology midterm?” 

“Nah, nothing like that. Just wondering if I could steal you away real quick.” 

“Sure, I guess,” Betty replies, getting up. “I’ll be right back.” 

She follows Reggie to the far side of the school cafeteria, where it’s a bit more secluded. Betty notes the way he leans his shoulder against the wall with his arms crossed. He’s trying to act cool… which means something else was _definitely_ eating him up inside. 

Reggie, like Betty’s best friend Archie, was also on the football team and happened to be the captain of said team. He was objectively handsome with his charming smile and gelled dark hair… but he had been known to be a womanizer. It wasn’t really on purpose, more because he didn’t _actually_ know he should speak around women. It was because of his obliviousness rather than purposeful intent that he ended up having and driving away so many of the girls in their grade. 

“Reg, if you want to get with Veronica, I’m pretty sure she’s set on Archie,” Betty says, assuming she knows what he’s about to tell her. 

“It’s not Lodge I want in with,” Reggie replies. “I was thinking instead… you, me, homecoming. Is that a great deal or no?” 

“While that sure is enticing, I think I’d rather not,” Betty sighs. 

“I know you’re planning on going, Coop. Why not have a piece of eye candy like me on your arm?” 

“It is that choice of words there that deters me,” Betty replies. “And I don’t want to be complicit when you spike the punch bowl.” 

“Me? Spike the punch bowl?” Reggie asks, trying to feign innocent. “I would never.” 

“I watched you do it at the last three homecomings _and_ junior prom, Reg,” she says. “I know you got a job last summer and became slightly more responsible than you had been previously, but you haven’t changed _that_ much.” 

“Just one dance?” 

“I’m not budging, Mantle,” Betty tells him, crossing her own arms. “If you come up with a better argument as to why I should take you, let me know.” 

As she walks back to her lunch table Betty can hear Reggie groan behind her, letting her know that she was just one of several failed female prospects. 

**\---**

When Betty wasn’t spending her free periods editing for the _Blue and Gold,_ she found comfort in the school library. Even since her elementary school days, and especially when her parents fighting was a daily occurrence at home, Betty loved the library. All of the stories the shelves held had the possibility of providing an escape from the world. 

At eight years-old she found the _Tracy True_ series on Riverdale Elementary’s bookshelves. At that point the collection was up to date. Betty blew through the dozens of books in two weeks. On the first read of every book, she would compile notes, create theories, and usually ended up solving the mystery before Tracy did. 

After finishing the series, she just reread the books over and over again. When a new book came out, she’d breeze through it then continue her cycle of rereading _Tracy True_ over and over again. She loved the mystery element. 

Alice had eventually noticed this pattern of Betty’s after Hal left, especially the omni-present _Tracy True_ books in her hands and the piles of notes on her desk. For her eleventh birthday, Alice bought the entire collection for her daughter. 

Betty _loved_ mysteries. It was by far her favorite genre. Books, TV, movies - she filled her brain with mysteries daily. By the time Betty reached high school, she was avidly watching mystery-dramas on TV with her mom. Alice had even gotten into the theorizing with Betty, and Betty found it nice to have something fun to do with her. 

After all they had been through together, Betty admired Alice’s commitment to her promise of being a better mother. She’d succeeded because of said commitment, and it had only drawn the two women closer. 

Finding a quiet spot in the Riverdale High School library, Betty cracks open something by Agatha Christie and enjoys the last peace and quiet she would get for the rest of the day. 

**\---**

“And five, six, seven, eight, POSE!” Cheryl shouts, the sound echoing off the walls and roof of the school gymnasium. 

Betty did her best to follow along with the cheer team’s self-appointed HBIC, panting and sweaty from having run their choreography thirty-one times already. Only perfection was good enough for Miss Cheryl Blossom and she always refused to release the River Vixens until she got at least a fraction of what she wanted to see. 

Betty, still standing in her pose next to Veronica, focuses her eyes on the HBIC scanning the group of cheerleaders. 

“Five minute water break. Then one more time from the top,” Cheryl finally says, causing the girls to relax as they make their way to their water bottles.

“So…” Betty begins as she walks next to Veronica. “Archie?” 

“You already know he asked me to homecoming, B,” Veronica replies, tired from dealing with Cheryl yelling at them for the past hour. “I guess I can’t go with you anymore unless you’re willing to be the third wheel. I heard Reggie was looking for a date though.” 

“I already turned him down.” 

“I can’t believe you sometimes. All these attractive members of the male species at this school and you’re not interested in any of them,” Veronica says. 

“Yeah they’re attractive and most of them are nice, but… there’s not much going on up there for a lot of them,” she argues. “I love Archie like a brother and he’s always been nice and good-looking, but let’s be honest, V, he’s like a puppy.” 

“That is _my_ puppy you’re talking about, Cooper,” Veronica tells her. “But I understand. And while this conversation does in no way pass the Bechdel Test, we have different tastes. You probably need someone that will be able to keep up with your Ivy-League brain.” 

“You’re probably right,” Betty admits, picking up her water bottle. “They’d probably have to be a pain in my ass to get my attention.” 

**\---**

After cheer practice, Betty says goodbye to Veronica and a few others, completely ready to begin her week-long fall break. She and Alice had plans to just chill for the week and catch up on their current Netflix binge together. They both wanted to just relax and destress. 

Betty did not find anything like that when she pulled into the Cooper driveway. 

She sees her mother’s car first, knowing that means she’s home… but when she gets to the bright red front door and is ready to unlock it, she sees the door isn’t closed all the way. 

For a moment, she believes she’s imagining it. After going through their homecoming routine another five times post-water break, Cheryl had made them run two miles. Though that distance wasn’t incredibly difficult for Betty, it still sapped most of her energy. Thus, Betty isn’t sure if she’s just aloof or if the door is open. She nudges the door with her foot and it gives, showing her that she wasn’t hallucinating. 

Betty knows from her mystery books, shows, and movies that this is extremely suspicious. She knows that she should be careful. With a glance over to the Andrews’ house, she sees that nobody is home. Despite her best judgement, Alice’s car is parked out front and looks the same as it had that morning. Her mother probably accidentally left the door slightly ajar. 

Betty curiously steps inside her home, staying as quiet as possible. 

The first thing she notices is that all of the lights are turned off and it’s quite dark inside, even though it’s barely 5PM. Still, Betty drops her cheer bag and backpack over the back of the couch. She remains cautious, taking measured steps. 

“Mom?” Betty calls into the house, peering around the corner. 

No response. 

As she makes her way into the kitchen and dining room area, Betty sees the door to the backyard has been haphazardly left wide open. The curtain attached to the inward side blows in the evening breeze. 

Before doing much else, Betty secures that door, shutting it and locking it. When she’s finished she faces the kitchen. 

It’s vacant… except for something unfamiliar left on the kitchen island. 

Betty walks over, her head tilting in concern. There’s a piece of paper taped to a rock and… _blood_ pooled under it. She rips the note from the stone, still confused. 

**_Your mother says hi._ **

_“What the hell?”_ she mutters to herself. 

With ample proof of knowing her mother was _not_ home and that she had probably left against her own wishes, judging by the bloody rock on the counter, Betty glances around just before pulling her phone out of her jeans pocket. She dials 911 with shaky hands and--

_CRASH_

_THUMP_

_BANG_

Betty knows immediately that the noises came from her inside her home. Looking around frantically, she first spots a dark, very tall young man clad in black who had jumped in through an already-broken window in the dining room. Second, a similarly-dressed man that is decades older than the first marches in from the front door, rivaling Guy One’s height. Third, another young man, much shorter but equally dressed in dark clothing, had kicked in the door to the backyard that Betty had _just_ closed. 

“Elizabeth Cooper?” Guy Three asks, making Betty’s eyes shoot open. She automatically dislikes the way he knows her name, and her full name at that. “I’m going to have to ask you to come with us.” 

“Oh _fuck_ no,” she replies, squaring her shoulders and stuffing her phone in her pocket again. “If you think you’re taking me too, you’re dead wrong.” 

“This will be easier if you cooperate,” Guy Three continues. “We don’t want to hurt you.” 

“Like I’d believe _that.”_

“Have it your way, Princess,” Guy Two says. 

Betty brings her hands up, prepared to defend herself. She’s not going to let some thugs get in the way of her calling the police and starting a search for her mother. 

The three men start closing in on her, trying to back her into the corner of the kitchen. Guy Three tries to grab her first, but Betty nails him in the gut with a quick sidekick. Guy One successfully backs her into the corner, even though Betty is throwing punches like there’s no tomorrow. After his continued success with dodging her advances, she throws and lands a kick to his _valuables._ He doubles over in pain immediately and stumbles out of her reach. 

All of this just gives Guy Two an opportunity to get in and grab Betty by her left arm. 

“Let go, slimeball!” she shouts in protest, trying to get out of his grip.

“Come with us and there won’t be any trouble,” the older man tells her. 

“No!” Rather than giving up as the man suggested, Betty gives him a nasty right hook to his nose. 

Betty watches the pain shoot through his entire face. Blood begins pouring out of his nose, but he doesn’t lose his grip on her like she’d hoped. Instead, Guy Two clenches her bicep more as he grunts. Betty cries out in pain at his grip, her knees weakening and trying to buckle underneath her. 

“Fuck!” she screams, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. “Let me go! You’re hurting me!” 

Guy One recovers from his scrambled peanuts just in time to grab Betty’s right arm that’s winding up another right hook. Together, Guy One and Two pick Betty up by her biceps. In protest, she screams, kicks, and struggles against them. She yells obscenities her mother would _never_ allow in the house. They don’t relent. Two’s grip remains solid and harsh while One is much gentler in comparison, but still firm.

Instead, they drag her out the front door with Guy Three opening said door for them, Betty’s backpack slung over his shoulder. She continues to curse, kick, and insult the three men even as she sees the dark van waiting for them. Guy One and Two sit her on the bench seat, clicking in the seatbelt and securing her hands at her sides. One presses her shoulder to the seat while Three climbs in next to Betty, sitting himself a comfortable distance from her on the bench seat. 

One shuts the backseat door and Two settles in the passenger side, handing something to Three. “Do me a favor and shut her the hell up.” 

Betty was still screeching for them to let her go as Guy One started up the van and pulled away from 111 Elm Street. 

“I swear to _fucking_ god, if you don’t let me go I’ll scramble your--!” 

Betty was cut off with a squeak as a (relatively clean) bandana was stuffed into her mouth and tied around the back of her head. 

“Cooper, I’m gonna have to ask you to calm down,” Three said, finishing the knot and sliding back into his own seat. “We don’t want to hurt you, but we also don’t want our eardrums blown out.”

The bite didn’t stop Betty from expressing her disagreement with several explicatives layered in, though her words were muffled. 

“Princess, _please_ shut the fuck up,” Two says to her over his shoulder. Betty immediately notices the rasp of his voice, nearly a growl. She can see that there is still blood pouring out of his bruised nose. _Good._

“She’s scared, you idiots,” Three replies from beside her. “She’s not going to shut up unless you drug her.” 

Betty sits up straighter at that comment, looking between the two of them. 

“I meek uhr moh agn, mtch,” she yells, meaning to say _I’ll break your nose again, bitch._

“Can we?” Two asks, responding to Three and ignoring Betty. 

“No,” One replies, his eyes locked on the road ahead. “Boss’ orders. No more than a bite.”

“Can we tie her up in the back then?” Two inquires. This man is obviously the most irritable, and he’s by far the oldest of the group. 

_“No,”_ One says again. “What about _no more than a bite_ don’t you understand?” 

Needless to say, this interaction confuses Betty. She stops struggling and yelling, instead beginning to listen. 

In a regular kidnapping, Betty knew that assailants would probably have used a knife or some sort of weapon to get her to comply. They could have drugged her, tied her up, or restrained her more. Back at the house, none of them swung at her even though she was throwing elbows and knees at them. If they wanted to hurt her, they probably would have already. 

These three weren’t doing any of that. 

Betty can understand why they would want to give her the bite - she was screaming at the top of her lungs for them to leave her alone and they didn’t want to get a headache from her. She _also_ knows she has a mouth on her, as she proved with her abundance of curses she threw at the group of men. 

If this were a kidnapping, Betty knows she would be drugged and tied up by now. Instead, One had buckled her seatbelt while he and Two held her against said seat. Three had already repeated a few times that they didn’t want to hurt her. One was driving lawfully, Betty could tell, by the way he respected the red light at the vacant intersection. 

All of this mental math causes Betty to think that maybe she’s not being kidnapped, but she doesn’t know what else it would be. 

Unfortunately, Betty doesn’t have too much time to think about what _could_ be happening because One parks the car in an abandoned-looking parking lot. They had arrived wherever they were meant to take her. Two gets out first, coming to the door closest to Betty. One does the same while Three picks up Betty’s backpack from the floorboards and gets out on the opposite side. 

One slides open the door next to her. Two holds Betty’s shoulders to the seat while One proceeds to unbuckle her, then they pull her out of the van by her biceps while she tries to struggle against them. Betty is sure she doesn’t want to know what awaits her in the nearby small building. 

Guy One clamps his hand on her bicep only firm enough to keep his grip on her, but Two is much more rough - likely because he was still angry about his nose. Three locks up the van, then leads them inside the small, abandoned-looking warehouse. Inside, there is an even larger man in a leather jacket. Three shows an ID and the larger man punches in a code that opens double doors… to a dark stairwell. 

They go down two flights of stairs even though Betty doesn’t will her legs to move (One and Two lift her above the steps), then make their way through a series of dimly lit hallways. 

Betty’s heart beat out of her chest, blocking out whatever quiet conversation One and Two were having on either side of her. She didn’t like her odds of escaping through this labyrinth if she had to. At the sight of another set of double doors, she fears the prospect of what could be behind there. 

Three opens one of them and motions for something just before another leather-jacketed man opens the other door. One and Two take her straight through the doorway while she really struggles against them, only hoping to get out while she can. 

What she sees stops her and confuses her more than anything. What she was now inside looked like a large, rustic, open floor-plan biker bar. On the right was the actual bar. On the left were monitors covering the walls of a cove, with people at computers and wearing headsets. The feed looked like it stemmed from security cameras placed in some places in Riverdale Betty recognized, and some she didn’t. 

People of all shapes and sizes (mostly men, but a good amount of women too) donned leather jackets identical to the ones of her captors. On the second and third levels was a balcony that went all the way around the room with many doors accessible from it. 

Betty almost doesn’t notice that One and Two have dragged her into the middle of the room until they place her on her feet and the bite is untied from the back of her head. The double doors shut loudly behind her as she pushes the bandana out of her mouth with her tongue. 

As soon One and Two let go of her arms, Betty spins around and points her finger at them. Her brain goes into autopilot, demanding answers and throwing out threats with various explicatives peppered in. To her surprise, they stand there calmly and take her verbal blows (even though she can tell Two wants to blow his top). 

“What the _fuck_ is your problem, kidnapping me from my house like that?!” 

“At ease, Princess,” someone drawls from behind her. 

The tone of the person’s voice makes Betty’s blood boil. The last thing she wants to deal with is a condescending teenage boy. 

As she turns around slowly to face the source of the voice, Betty can feel rather than see the eyeroll he gives her. With a scowl on her face and while trying to resist her urge to throw a punch at this guy, Betty lays her eyes on one of the most handsome boys she’s ever met. 

She was soon to find out as well that he would be the most irritating person she’d ever meet.


	2. Party of One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You’ve got some nerve taking me from my house the way you did. And where’s my mom? She’s got to be around here somewhere.” 
> 
> He’s got dark, obsidian locks trapped underneath a grotesque, worn grey beanie that looks like it’s been cut along the edge. His eyes are a pale blue and he’s got freckles scattered along his face. Also smeared on his face was a scowl in her direction. She didn’t even know his name but she could tell that neither of them wanted to be in the situation they were in currently. 
> 
> He smirks at her comment. “The kidnapping ruse was my idea,” he says smugly. “And we don’t have your mom, Cooper. We’re trying to figure out where she is.” 
> 
> “Liar,” Betty prods defensively, walking toward him. “Someone took her from my home, probably the same way you orchestrated the pickup on me. So where is she?” 
> 
> “Back off, Princess. What I did saved your life,” the teenager responds. “You should be thanking me.” 
> 
> “Thanking you?” Betty asks incredulously. “Thanking you?!?!” She repeats herself for emphasis. “I was restrained and gagged all the way down here and you have the nerve to believe that I would thank you after that?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY! 
> 
> Time to figure out what's been going on with Betty being taken from her house! 
> 
> Betty and Jughead don't get an extreme amount of time together during this chapter, but I promise they'll start interacting a lot more next chapter!

Betty Cooper had never liked pretentious assholes. Reggie Mantle was the biggest offender there, but he’d mostly grown out of it since Betty broke his nose. She didn’t like Dilton Doiley too much either because he liked to try to explain math concepts by watering them down as much as he could, even though Betty already understood them the same amount if not more than Dilton. 

She didn’t like being talked down to. And she  _ definitely _ didn’t like being talked down to by people her own age. 

“I don’t know who the hell all of you are calling Princess,” Betty says, crossing her arms toward the teenager six feet from her. “But you’ve got some nerve taking me from my house the way you did. And where’s my mom? She’s got to be around here somewhere.” 

He’s got dark, obsidian locks trapped underneath a grotesque, worn grey beanie that looks like it’s been cut along the edge. His eyes are a pale blue and he’s got freckles scattered along his face. Also smeared on his face was a scowl in her direction. She didn’t even know his name but she could tell that neither of them wanted to be in the situation they were in currently. 

He smirks at her comment. “The kidnapping ruse was my idea,” he says smugly. “And we don’t have your mom, Cooper. We’re trying to figure out where she is.” 

“Liar,” Betty prods defensively, walking toward him. “Someone took her from my home, probably the same way you orchestrated the pickup on me. So where is she?” 

“Back off, Princess. What I did saved your life,” the teenager responds. “You should be thanking me.” 

“Thanking you?” Betty asks incredulously.  _ “Thanking you?!?!” _ She repeats herself for emphasis. “I was restrained and gagged all the way down here and you have the nerve to believe that I would  _ thank you _ after that?!” 

“If you’d wanted to end up like your mother, you would have stayed in that house, Princess,” she hears a deeper, scratchier voice tell her. A man emerges from a door behind the teenager, also clad in a leather jacket. He looked to be the teenager’s father. 

“What do you know of my mom?” Betty challenges the man. 

“More than you know,” he replies. “We’ve had security around your house for longer than you’ve been alive. Calm down and we’ll get you up to speed. Trust me.” 

“Tell me something that will  _ make me _ trust you,” she says. “The last hour has not been good for this group’s standing with me, so make it worth it.” 

“We are the Southside Serpents,” the man tells her. “Your mother is one of ours.” 

Betty scoffs. “You mean the gang that disappeared at the height of another Southside gang’s drug deals?” she asks incredulously. “Nice try, but my mother’s not in a  _ gang. _ ” 

“We’re not a gang anymore,” the teenager protests, rolling his eyes. “And since Northsiders like you and the sheriff don’t give a damn about the Southside, we’re the ones that protect our way of life.” 

“Vigilantes?” Betty asks. “You’re a vigilante group?” 

“We do our best to keep drugs off the streets as much as we can,” the man butts in. “And most importantly, we protect our own. Even more so since the gang disbanded.” 

“My mother would have told me about this,” Betty protests, her resolve faltering. “My mother’s not in a gang.” 

“I can assure you, she is,” the teenager drawls. “Alice is one of our best, even if she’s annoying as fuck--” 

“Watch it, Jug,” the man says. “That’s her mother you’re speaking about. And she’s our guest.” 

Betty’s unsure if she heard the man correctly, but it sounds like the teenager’s name is  _ Jug. _ It’s odd to her that someone would name their child after a container. She doesn’t blame the man, though. His son is infuriating. 

“Well these three didn’t treat me like I’m some honored guest of yours,” Betty quips, throwing her thumb over her shoulder to motion to the three men behind her. 

“All fairness, cupcake, you probably broke my nose,” Guy Two says. 

“No, I  _ did _ break your nose. There’s a difference.” 

“I apologize for the way that we went about getting you here,” the teenager’s father says. “In retrospect, we should have known that your mother hadn’t told you about us.” 

“I’m not sorry at all,” the teenager interrupts. 

“Figures,” Betty says. “I don’t know what the hell you want with  _ me _ of all people, but I’d at least like to know  _ why _ I was dragged over here against my will.” 

“Alice charged us with protecting you should anything happen to her,” the man tells her. “Our scouts reported that a group broke into your house not long after your mother arrived. They took her, and the backup was too slow to stop it,” he continues. “I’m sorry that we failed. We don’t know where she is currently.” 

“So that explains how you know my mom was taken, but what about me? Why extract me?” Betty asks. 

The teenager scoffs. “How many times do we have to say it?” he asks rudely. “We did it to  _ protect you.” _

“There’s no evidence anyone was looking for me.” 

“They could have!” the teenager argues, infuriated with her denial.

“The scouts watched them. They never took any items of value from your house,” the man says. “They didn’t rummage through drawers, they didn’t break anything but the locks on your doors in order to get in. They didn’t steal anything. They came for Alice.” 

“This… this is ridiculous,” Betty says, laughing nervously. “You’re making this up. Just take me to see my mom already.” 

The teenager and his father look at each other, then back at Betty. 

“We have no idea where she is,” the man says. “But… we know she’s in the hands of some bad people. Bad people who could hurt her, or worse--” 

“Stop,” Betty interrupts. “You don’t… You don’t know they’ll hurt her.” 

“Alice has her enemies from working with us over the years,” the man assures, walking toward Betty. “I’m sorry we let them get away, but there are people in Riverdale, especially on the Southside that would like to see her… gone.” 

“But…” Betty has run out of words and protests. Her resolve begins to fail her as she stands in front of this man. He’s being genuine. He’s telling the truth. “I… I can’t--” 

“We’re going to find her,” the man tells her. Betty starts to feel the floor waver beneath her. “We’re going to find her as soon as we can.” 

Everything catches up with her so violently. She can’t process a damn thing. 

“Betty? Are you okay, sweetheart?” the man asks, a worried look on his face. 

“I don’t… I…” 

Betty stumbles over her own feet and tries to catch herself. Before she can fall to the floor, the man intercepts her and holds her up. 

“It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re safe,” he tells her, keeping a firm grip on her so she doesn’t slip.

The man shouts over his shoulder for a medic and the teenager comes running toward them with a worried look on his face. Then everything goes black on Betty’s end. 

**\---**

When Betty groggily wakes she’s lying down, and she notices she’s no longer in the huge open room she had been brought into. Instead, she’s in a small room and laying in a bed. There are two dark-haired men with pained expressions hovering over her face, one younger than the other and the relation even more evident than before. As soon as she groans and opens her eyes all the way, the teenager goes back to being indifferent. 

There’s something cold and wet on her forehead, and it’s almost refreshing. 

“There you are, Betty,” the older man whispers, touching her shoulder gently. At least  _ one _ of them was happy to see her regain consciousness. 

“What happened?” she grumbles, trying to sit up. The older man protests, laying her down again. 

“You fainted,” the teenager scoffs. 

“Jughead, I know you’re skeptical but be polite,” the man chastises. Betty realizes then that  _ Jug _ is short for the even worse  _ Jughead. _

“She’s no better than any other Northsider, dad.” 

“Excuse me?!” It’s Betty’s turn to scoff, turning toward Jughead. “I will rip you limb from limb!” She sits up, fully ready to strangle him. His father pushes her back into the pillows behind her. 

“Not yet,” he says. “We need to talk first.” 

“Fine,” Betty grumbles, laying in a reclined position. “Let’s talk.” 

“My name is FP Jones, and this is my son, Jughead,” he begins. “I’m the leader of the Serpents, and we are currently inside our headquarters - the Whyte Wyrm. I meant what I said about not operating as a gang anymore. We protect people now - we protect our family.” 

“And you care about my mom?” Betty asks. 

“Alice Smith has been one of my best friends forever,” FP replies. “We joined the Serpents at sixteen, when it was still a gang, and I eventually became the Serpent King.” He sighs. “The gang eventually had to disband, but I was able to keep some of us together so we could continue to operate, even if we weren’t doing what we used to. Instead of our former gang activity we started protecting our own that may be at risk.” 

“Except…” 

“We screwed up today,” FP adds. “I’m sorry.” Out of the corner of the eye, Betty sees Jughead look at his feet, then back at them. 

“I don’t forgive you, but I know it was a bit of an ambush on your… forces,” Betty assures him. “I can’t forgive you yet. I’m sorry.” 

“I understand,” FP replies. “And we’re going to do everything in our power to get her back.” 

“How… long has… How do I even ask this?” Betty begins. “My mom.” 

“Alice first stepped out of active membership when she got married to your father,” FP explains. “She came back for a few years, very minimal. Then stepped out again after getting pregnant with Polly,” he says. “She’s been a target of the Ghoulies for years.” 

“The Ghoulies?” she asks. 

“The actual gang on the Southside. The one pushing drugs and causing trouble,” Jughead replies. “They’re currently the number one suspects in Alice’s case.” 

“And how long have they been targeting her?” 

“Forever, pretty much,” FP says. “We’ve been protecting the Cooper household since your mother left the Serpents… and then she came back to us after your father disappeared.” 

“How the hell do you know about that?” Betty asks, pointing her finger at him. Tears prick her eyes at the suddenly reopened wound. “We don’t talk about that.  _ Ever. _ And if we do it’s with each other.” 

“Betty. Betty, I assure you that nobody else outside this room knows the intimate details of what happened,” FP says calmly. “She only told me after approaching me again to rejoin, and she came back because she said she wanted to come back in order to protect  _ you.” _

Betty relaxes at the knowledge that her father’s abandonment of her family wasn’t widespread knowledge. 

“She… always called you her little princess, even though you’re not little anymore,” FP adds somberly. “You’re the light of her life. She asked me personally to protect you and your sister if anything were to happen to her. Unfortunately, we don’t know where Polly is. Your mother doesn’t either. We do, however, know that she’s not in Riverdale or any of the surrounding towns.” 

“I see,” Betty replies, her head dipping so her chin hits her chest. “That’s why everyone kept calling me Princess.” 

FP nods. “I hope you understand that we had to get you out of your house before anyone could take another Cooper,” he says, placing a comforting hand on her bicep. 

Betty flinches with a yelp, tearing her arm from FP’s grip. It happens before she can wrap her mind around what she’s doing. Once she  _ does _ realize what has happened, both Jones men are staring at her in shock. 

“Sorry,” Betty says. 

FP doesn’t reply, but he holds her forearm in one hand and pulls up the sleeve of her shirt with the other. The sensation burns as the fabric scrapes against her skin. When he stops, Betty looks at her bicep. 

There’s a huge bruise on the arm Guy Two had grabbed roughly after she’d broken his nose. 

Jughead comes around the other side of the bed to take a look at what his father was staring at, recoiling at the large, purplish, splotchy hand print taking up most of the space of her arm. Betty watches FP and Jughead’s faces both gradually scrunch in anger. FP is about to speak, but his son gets the words out first. 

“Who did that to you?” Jughead asks sternly. There’s no room for debate in his voice. 

“I don’t know his name,” Betty replies. “It was one of the three you sent after me.” 

FP scowls. “Was it one of the teenagers?” 

“No,” she says. “It was the older guy. I broke his nose and he replied by leaving that.” 

FP looks up at his son. Something evidently occurs between them because Jughead leaves the room swiftly. FP turns back to Betty once the door is shut again, letting go of her arm. 

“I’ll get you some ice for that, if you’d like,” he says. “We’re working on getting a team into your house to grab some things and clothes for you, since we don’t know how long you’ll be staying with us.” 

“How do you figure that?” 

“After you fainted, I received word from one of our intelligence specialists here that the group that took your mother was still roaming about the Riverdale suburbs at the time you arrived home,” FP explains. “In fact… they broke in again, only fifteen minutes after we extracted you.” 

“They broke into my house?” she asks. 

“Again. Yes,” he replies. “They broke in ten minutes ago… looking for you, we presume.” 

“You don’t know that.” 

“Criminals don’t return to the scene of the crime unless there was something there that wasn’t there before or if they left something there,” FP says. “If they’d wanted to rob you, they would have. They didn’t take anything.” 

Betty sighs. “Is this real?” she asks. “Did my mom really hide a whole part of her life from me?” 

“I left it up to her,” FP admits. “It was her choice to tell you. Unfortunately, you have to hear it from me instead.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a worn, folded photo, then hands it to Betty. “That’s your mom and I after we finally got our jackets.” 

In the photo is a teenager that looks a lot like herself right next to another teenager that looks just like Jughead. Their arms are slung around each other, and FP has a bunch of cuts on his face that look newly patched up. They’re happy. 

“You really weren’t lying, huh?” 

“I wouldn’t lie to my best friend’s daughter,” FP replies, taking the photo back and tucking it into his wallet. “But what I would do is treat her like my own daughter in the absence of her mother and any semblance of familiarity.” 

“I appreciate your hospitality, Mr. Jones.” 

“Call me FP, Betty. You’re very welcome,” he replies. “I’ll grab you some dinner from the bar downstairs and some ice for that arm. Hopefully the team with your stuff comes back soon so you can have a change of clothes. You’ve got your own private bathroom up here too and there should be towels in there for you.” 

“Thanks, FP.” 

“Rest up - we’ve got some investigating to do in terms of your mother tomorrow.” 

With that, FP left Betty alone with her school backpack. She was lucky there was a phone charger in there. 

**\---**

Beyond Betty’s room, and even beyond the walls of the Whyte Wyrm, lay the vacant, deserted parking lot. It was the same one Betty had been taken to before getting to the entrance of the Whyte Wyrm. 

Jughead Jones makes his way out of the underground tunnels, then up the two flights of stairs. He’s the first one out the door, feeling the cool, moist night air on his skin. Right behind him are Sweet Pea and Fangs, lugging Tall Boy up and outside with them. Out comes five more teen Serpents trailing them. 

Jughead stops and turns around. Fangs and Sweet Pea stand a few steps in front of him, Tall Boy restrained between them. The rest of the teen Serpents form a circle around them. Sweet Pea kicks the back of Tall Boy’s leg and his knees give out with a groan on his behalf. 

“What was the mission?” Jughead asks pointedly, pulling on the cuffs of his leather jacket. Sweet Pea and Fangs keep their hands on Tall Boy’s shoulders. 

“Grab the Cooper girl,” Tall Boy replies. “And that’s what we did. What’s the problem, Jones?” 

“You were  _ also _ told that even if she were to put up a fight, no harm should come to her. You weren’t to use more than a bite,” Jughead adds. “And  _ that _ is where you went wrong.” 

“The bitch broke my nose!” he shouts. 

Tall Boy is right. The medics eventually evaluated him, determining his nose was broken from Betty’s right hook. It had only made Tall Boy more irritable than usual. Jughead was mostly indifferent when hearing about the diagnosis, but then he saw the massive bruise on Cooper’s arm. And  _ that _ was when he determined something needed to be done. 

So here they are. 

“She put up a fight, just like my dad said she probably would,” Jughead says. “You were briefed. We knew Alice had been training her to protect herself. Just as expected, she didn’t like it when three aggressive-looking men busted into her house.” 

“Be lucky she didn’t hit you in the balls,” Sweet Pea adds. 

“Or the diaphragm,” Fangs says, rubbing his abdomen. 

Jughead shakes off the comments. “Point blank - we told you not to hurt her.” 

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Tall Boy protests. 

“There’s a disgusting, painful bruise on her arm that says different, asshole,” Jughead replies. 

“I didn’t do anything different from these two.” 

“Sweets,” Jughead says, getting the tall teen’s attention. “Both of you grabbed her arms, right?” 

“Yeah,” Sweet Pea answers. “It was the only way we could get her to stop lashing out at us.” 

“Which side were you on?” 

“The left,” he replies. “Tall Boy was on the right.” 

“How  _ odd,” _ Jughead states sarcastically, looking down at Tall Boy. “That’s the side her bruise is on.” 

“So what? It’s a bruise.” 

“There’s no bruise on the left, just the right,” he says. “And I already  _ know _ you don’t like it when a girl shows you up. Say… would a broken nose cause you to lash out?” 

Tall Boy grumbles, malcontented. 

“We hold people accountable here,” Jughead says, pulling something shiny out of his jacket pocket. He slips the item over his fingers as far as they’ll go to his knuckles. “And you’re no exception for hurting one of our own.” 

“That bitch isn’t even initiated,” Tall Boy protests. 

“She’s not a  _ bitch. _ But what she is… is the family of an initiated member,” Jughead replies, motioning for Sweet Pea and Fangs to stand up Tall Boy. “Which means she’s protected by our laws.” 

“What are  _ you _ gonna do about it, Pretty Boy?” Tall Boy scoffs. 

“Oh, I’m gonna do something,” Jughead says. “And just know… if Alice were here she’d show much less mercy on you than I will.” 

He winds up his brass knuckles-clad fist and swings for Tall Boy’s gut. 

Thirty minutes later, FP finds his son washing his hands. 

“I assume you took care of it?” FP sighs. 

“Cooper will never see his disgusting face again,” Jughead replies without looking up from where he’s scrubbing his brass knuckles free of fresh blood. 

**\---**

There’s a knock at Betty’s door that wakes her. She sits up and the door opens just enough for a teenage girl to put her head in. 

“You’re awake, good,” she says, walking in. 

“Uh… who are you?” Betty asks. 

She hasn’t seen this girl before. Her hair has pink and purple highlights, she’s quite short, and she’s got lovely caramel skin. She smiles at Betty and she seems kind. 

“I’m Toni Topaz,” she says. “FP asked me to make you feel welcome here. Two of my friends would like to say something to you, as well. Can I let them in?” 

“Sure,” Betty says. 

Toni opens the door more and beacons them inside. In come the two teenagers that took her from her house: Guy One and Guy Three. 

Betty, suddenly uncomfortable, sits up even more and shuffles back into the headboard of the bed she’s in. 

“Easy, easy,” Guy One assures her. “We’re not here to take you on another road trip.” 

“I don’t think I want to take you on another road trip after last time,” Guy Three adds. “We came to apologize for yesterday,” he clarifies. “There wasn’t much time for us to get you out of your house, so there was no opportunity for an explanation.” 

Betty crosses her arms. 

“I’m sorry we scared you like we did,” Guy One adds. “And I’m sorry on behalf of Tall Boy for how he handled you after you broke his nose.” 

“Tall Boy?” She asks. It’s an odd name. And it requires a clarification. 

“Yeah - that’s the guy whose nose you broke,” Guy Three explains. “I’m Fangs, by the way. And this is Sweet Pea. We just feel really bad about how everything went down yesterday.” Sweet Pea nods in agreement. 

“I appreciate you saying that,” Betty replies. She’s relaxed now that she’s seen that these two have the guts to actually apologize for their actions. They don’t seem so bad. “Well then… I’m sorry for nailing you in the nether region,” she says to Sweet Pea. “And you in the gut,” Betty adds in Fangs’ direction. 

“Quite the skills you’ve got there, Cooper,” Sweet Pea replies with a pained expression. “I hope I’m never on the receiving end of them again.” 

Betty laughs, smiling. 

“Also,” Fangs says, holding up two black duffel bags. “We three were on the team that went and got you some stuff from your house.” 

“Don’t worry - I wouldn’t let them touch anything I wouldn’t want a random guy touching,” Toni assures her. Fangs sets the two bags on the foot of her bed. “Once you’re ready meet us downstairs. We’ll fill in a few blanks if you’d like us to.” 

After the three teenage Serpents leave the room, Betty gets up and finds the duffel bags. One is mostly filled with clothing, and the other is half clothes half toiletries. She rummages through one of the bags, finding enough to make an outfit out of. As she searches for the shoes she can feel are buried under several folded t-shirts, her hand brushes something cold and metal. 

When she pulls the item out of the bag, Betty finds a picture frame. It’s the one from her bedside table - Alice and herself before her junior year homecoming dance. She’s wearing a baby blue dress and her mother has on a matching cardigan. The smiles on their faces rival all of the other pictures they’d ever taken together, which was why  _ this _ picture was the one she kept next to her bed. 

With a sigh, Betty stands up the frame on the small table next to her bed for the time being. 

After that, she gets changed pretty quickly. As soon as she steps outside the door to her room, Betty realizes she sticks out like a sore thumb in her very Northside-like clothing. It’s really because everyone else inside the Whyte Wyrm is wearing black. She does have lighter-toned clothing than what she’s currently wearing, but Betty figures the bubblegum pink hightop converse on her feet don’t help her case. 

Over the railing of the balcony, Betty spots Toni’s pink highlights and the two dark-haired teens she’d just been formally introduced to. She takes the stairs at a jog, then walks over to their table where they’re all having breakfast. Fangs sees her first. 

“Betty!” he says, beckoning her over. “We saved you a seat!” Toni and Sweet Pea look up and give her friendly smiles as well. 

“Hey,” she greets, sitting in the chair Fangs had motioned to only seconds ago. “Just so you know, I very much appreciate the ability to change clothes. I’m pretty sure my shirt from yesterday still has Tall Boy’s nose blood on it.” 

Fangs and Sweet Pea chuckle. Toni calls over a server a moment later and asks for another breakfast plate for Betty. “Make sure it’s not Jughead-sized, please,” she adds. “Thanks, Gwen.” 

_ “Jughead-sized?”  _ Betty asks. 

“Boss’ son eats like a pig,” Sweet Pea clarifies. “All the food served from the bar is either standard or  _ Jughead-sized _ to accommodate his large stomach. If you’re ever hangry and the server can tell, they’ll just bring it Jughead-sized automatically.” Betty laughs softly. 

“Funny you mention him,” she replies. “He doesn’t seem to like me very much.” 

“He doesn’t really like anyone at the moment,” Toni grovels. Fangs nudges her with his elbow. “I just mean, he’s usually pretty crabby around people he doesn’t know too well.” 

“He and Alice don’t get along,” Fangs adds. “Never have. Probably never will.” 

“Why’s that?” Betty inquires. 

“Clashing personalities,” Toni says. “They both always have to be right.” 

Betty smiles at the description. It definitely sounds like her mother. 

“Not to mention that Jughead doesn’t like how close your mom and his dad are,” Sweet Pea says. “They’re just friends and everyone knows that.” 

“Doesn’t mean he has to like it,” Fangs argues. “He tolerates it.” 

“So… because he doesn’t like my mom, he doesn’t like me? He doesn’t even know me.” 

“That doesn’t matter to him,” Sweet Pea scoffs, shoveling more scrambled eggs into his mouth. “Until you prove yourself to be unattached at the hip from Alice, he’ll believe you’re a carbon copy of her.”

A plate of breakfast food is set down in front of Betty, and she thanks the server politely before turning back to the conversation. “So Jughead Jones is a prick and there’s nothing I can do about it.” 

“Correct,” that notably insufferable voice replies to Betty. She turns around in her seat, seeing that Jughead is standing right behind her. Unfortunately, he’s still unfairly and objectively good-looking. He ignores her presence as he approaches their table. “You guys gave away my seat?” Jughead tsks. “I’m only five minutes later than usual.” 

“We were just trying to make Betty feel at home,” Toni argues. “Like your father asked all of us to do. All  _ four _ of us.” 

“She’s annoying.” “He’s insufferable,” they say at the same time. 

Fangs sighs. “There’s no point in fighting it, T.” 

“You guys barely know each other,” Sweet Pea counters. “Pull up a chair, Jug. Get to know Mini Coop.” 

“I have better things to do,” Jughead supplies. “Like trying to figure out who took Alice and where she is.” 

“I can help,” Betty offers, looking at him again. “My mom taught me about investigative journalism and--” 

“Thanks but no thanks, Princess,” he interrupts sourly. “I think I’ll get my help from the professionals. Don’t get too up your ass about it.” 

Betty rises from her seat. “It’s my mother you’re trying to find,” she states seriously. “I think I’ll get as up my ass as I’d like.” 

“I don’t know if you noticed, but you’re in Serpent territory now,” Jughead grovels, a scowl on his face. “You have no idea of the world you’re in, and you’re surrounded by people that have only heard of you. We don’t know you. We can’t trust you.” 

“You’d trust my mother,” Betty argues. 

_ “I _ would not, per se, but everyone else probably would,” Jughead corrects. “You are only here because my father found it necessary to bring you into protection. You are not here as a witness, an informant, or an analyst,” he continues. “You are here because you are family. That’s  _ it.” _

“Considering FP told me there were no leads in my mother’s case, I’m sure you want to get all the help you can find,” she replies. “I’m willing to put up with your stupid face. That sounds like a pretty good deal considering how much of an asshole you are.” 

Fangs and Sweet Pea try to conceal their laughter from behind her, but one glance from Jughead shuts them up. 

“Just let her help, Jug,” Toni pipes up. “It’s her mom. She’s probably going to keep bugging you until you let her.” Betty nods with a coy smile that makes Jughead roll his eyes. 

“I’ll go see what my dad thinks of the idea,” Jughead replies. “Obviously it looks like I’m not going to win this battle.” He spins on his heel and lurches off toward where Betty figures his dad’s office is. 

Betty returns to her seat with a smile. “Thanks, Toni,” she says. 

“He shouldn’t be such a jerk to you,” the teenager responds. “I think you’re pretty cool.” Fangs and Sweet Pea nod in agreement. “You’re welcome to hang with us while you’re here.” 

**\---**

Not long after Betty finishes her breakfast, the three teen Serpents fill her in on the types of things they do during the day. 

“There are two sides to the Wyrm,” Toni says. “One half is the 24/7 bar. They serve food and drink, as you’ve seen. If you’re 21 you can get the hard stuff. Only when it’s a special occasion will FP let Jughead grab a bottle or two of the good stuff for the older teenage Serpents.” 

“The other side is what we call the workspace,” Sweet Pea adds, nodding toward the walls full of monitors and computers. “That’s where we do our recon and surveillance. It’s how we knew your house was broken into. If Jones  _ does _ let you work with him, that’s probably where you’re going to be set up.” 

“For most of us that are still in high school and stuff we don’t really have much responsibility. Jughead has kinda been put “in charge” of the teenage section, but other than that we don’t have much work to do,” Fangs tells Betty. “We come and chill here after school and stuff. We’ve even got a tutoring program in-house for people that struggle with academics. Those of us that would be living on the streets or just can’t stand to live at home live here for free.” 

“Do… all three of you…?” Betty begins to ask. 

“Yeah, we do,” Toni replies. “It’s okay. That’s how we met. We’re pretty good friends because of it. I have grandparents I go and visit from time to time that are under protection of the Serpents.” 

“I started living here to get away from the Ghoulies’ drug running,” Fangs says. “It wasn’t a very healthy lifestyle.” 

“And my mom skipped town when I was 14,” Sweet Pea adds. 

“My dad--” Betty starts, quickly cutting herself off. She lowers her voice “Um… My dad disappeared when I was ten. And my sister left when I was thirteen.” 

Silence hangs over the table for a few moments. As Betty’s head dips down to stare at the wood she can feel the three Serpents staring at her. One hand settles on each of her shoulders - one from Toni and one from Sweet Pea. When she looks up at them, they’re all looking at her apologetically. 

“So Alice is all you’ve got left,” Toni whispers in realization. Betty nods softly, starting to tear up. 

It had been more than twelve hours since Betty had returned to an empty house and a sketchy note attached to a bloody rock. In those twelve-plus hours, she hadn’t given herself a moment to really comprehend her situation. Her mother was her  _ only _ family left. The rest of her once-happy family members were scattered. 

She didn’t know where any of them were. 

Her father? He ran off. 

Her sister? She ran off too. 

Her mother? Kidnapped. Likely in danger. 

It is then that Betty realized she might  _ never _ see her mother again if things happened to go wrong somewhere along the way. Maybe she was already--

No. She didn’t want to imagine the possibility of that. 

It still hurts, though. 

Betty gets up to leave, wanting a moment alone. Toni keeps a fleeting grip, her hand sliding from Betty’s shoulder down to her wrist. She clasps onto her hand firmly, not letting Betty run. 

“Toni,” she whimpers. “Please--” 

“We’re not going to let you go through this by yourself, Betty,” Toni interrupts. “We know what it’s like dealing with broken families.” Betty winces. This is why she rarely talks about the reality of her home life with her school friends. “Let us help you. We won’t tell a soul.” 

A few warm tears leave her eyes, running down her cheeks. She succumbs to Toni’s friendliness, turning toward the petite teenager and wrapping her in a hug without warning. Betty sobs into her shoulder quietly while Toni comforts her. Sweet Pea and Fangs eventually turn it into a group hug, concealing Betty from the rest of the Whyte Wyrm while her body shakes with soft cries. 

She just wants her mother back. 

“We’re gonna find her,” Sweet Pea assures her. “We’re gonna find Alice.” 

Betty believes it. 

tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again - more Betty and Jughead being rivals coming up next chapter! 
> 
> We're gonna start the investigating part of the fic now that the universe has been explained and shown to you!
> 
> Time for flirtatious bickering! I'd love to hear theories about what happened to Alice - I already know where she is.


	3. Underdog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Sweets, I thought I told you to get--” Jughead begins. “What the fuck?” 
> 
> “What do you want, Jones?” Betty asks, rolling her eyes as she continues to blast bugs. 
> 
> “Oh hell no. You don’t get to come in here and wreck my high score,” he protests. 
> 
> “Your high score?” she questions. His statement makes her concentration break, losing her last life. “Damnit!” 
> 
> “Oh shit,” Fangs comments. “You beat his score by a hundred thousand points.” 
> 
> Betty laughs and she can feel Jughead’s scowl directed at the back of her head. Smugly, she inputs “COOP” next to the new record score on the machine. When the screen refreshes, they all see COOP’s score listed above FPJ3’s. 
> 
> Betty turns to face Jughead, crossing her arms. “Nobody’s beat that score in three years,” he grovels. 
> 
> “How unfortunate for you,” Betty replies sarcastically. “What did you come over here and wreck me putting you even further into the dirt for?” 
> 
> Jughead rolls his eyes, then ignores her. “My dad’s holding a meeting about the task force he selected for Alice’s investigation.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's where we start the REAL enemies to lovers shit 
> 
> Get ready mofos
> 
> Oh they enemies alright

Betty’s working on beating the high score on the Serpents’ retro Galaga machine, held by one FPJ3, just after lunch. Fangs and Toni are cheering her on as she blasts colorful, neon extraterrestrial bugs and dodges their fire expertly. 

“Guys! Hey!” Sweet Pea shouts, running towards them. “FP’s calling--  _ woah.” _

“What?” Toni asks. “What do you want?” 

“Betty’s doing  _ great,” _ Sweet Pea says, distracted by her performance. 

“Thanks,” Betty replies. “I used to play this all the time with my dad when I was little.” 

“Yeah, but I haven’t seen a performance like that on this machine since--” 

“Sweets, I thought I told you to get--” Jughead begins. “What the fuck?” 

“What do you want, Jones?” Betty asks, rolling her eyes as she continues to blast bugs. 

“Oh  _ hell _ no. You don’t get to come in here and wreck my high score,” he protests. 

_ “Your _ high score?” she questions. His statement makes her concentration break, losing her last life. “Damnit!” 

“Oh shit,” Fangs comments. “You beat his score by a hundred thousand points.” 

Betty laughs and she can feel Jughead’s scowl directed at the back of her head. Smugly, she inputs “COOP” next to the new record score on the machine. When the screen refreshes, they all see COOP’s score listed above FPJ3’s. 

Betty turns to face Jughead, crossing her arms. “Nobody’s beat that score in three years,” he grovels. 

“How unfortunate for you,” Betty replies sarcastically. “What did you come over here and wreck me putting you even further into the dirt for?” 

Jughead rolls his eyes, then ignores her. “My dad’s holding a meeting about the task force he selected for Alice’s investigation.” 

“Nice,” Toni says. “Let’s go.” She, Jughead, and Sweet Pea head off toward the workspace. Fangs is on his way behind him when he notices Betty hasn’t moved. 

“What’s up, Mini Coop?” he asks, walking back to her. “Aren’t you coming?” 

“What’s the meeting about?” she inquires. “I’m confused.” 

“FP’s going to pick people for your mom’s case,” Fangs clarifies. “You could be on the list if Jughead actually passed up your interest in working it.” 

“Oh,” Betty replies. “Yeah. I guess we should go.” 

In the workspace, Betty and Fangs see a group gathered around one FP Jones. They filter their way through, finding Toni, Sweet Pea, and Jughead talking amongst themselves. As soon as Betty shows her face in the now group of five, Jughead shuts up and turns away. 

Typical. 

“Alright, let’s get this started,” FP announces, getting the room to quiet down. “I will be announcing the task force I have selected for Alice Cooper’s kidnapping case.” 

Betty stands between Fangs and Sweet Pea. Each of them have a hand on her shoulder in comfort. As she’d gotten to know the two teens that took her from her home, Betty found they were just muscly teddy bears. 

“My boy Jughead is going to be taking lead on the case. Toni, Sweet Pea, Fangs, you’ll be assisting in operations,” FP says. “We’ve got Hog Eye on logistics and analysis, and Peaches on surveillance. I’ll be supervising this case. If everyone else could clear the room, I need to give a briefing.” 

As people begin to filter out of the room, Betty stays put. 

“FP?” she calls, stepping out from behind Toni. “Can I… can I help?” 

Jughead scoffs and FP hits his son in the chest lightly with a folder full of papers. 

“I didn’t want you involved because of how close you are to the case,” FP says. “But if you’d like to help, I see no problem with that.” 

“We don’t even know her,” Jughead argues. “She’s never done anything like this before.” 

“That’s not true,” Betty interjects. “I’ve done a few investigative pieces for my high school newspaper. They weren’t  _ kidnappings, _ but I exposed a mini drug ring on the soccer team last year.” 

“Ultimately, I’ll leave it up to Jughead,” FP comments. “I think you could be of use. What do you say, Jug?” 

“No,” he replies. “I’m not letting a non-initiate onto this investigation.” 

“Dude, it’s her  _ mom,” _ Sweet Pea argues. “Betty’s real smart. If she’s anything like Alice she’ll be able to help big time.” 

“I’m not helping you until you let Mini Coop on,” Fangs adds. 

“Me neither,” Toni says. “Let Betty help.” 

After a few more minutes of arguing, Jughead finally lets Betty on the investigation team. He’s still evidently not happy about it, but it’s another win for her. 

They get started immediately. Jughead lays the case papers on the table. 

“Alright. Currently, we have a few prime suspects for who could have taken Alice,” he says. “We don’t know the motive yet, but as of now we assume it’s because of Alice’s role in the Serpents and the damage she’s done to the gangs on the Southside.” 

Betty still doesn’t know how she feels about her mom being part of a former gang, but it’s starting to get easier to accept. 

“First we have the Ghoulies,” Jughead begins. “Alice has been sent on several missions to intercept drug runners and dealers for the Ghoulies in the past. As we all know, the Southside drug market is pretty much monopolized by the Ghoulies and they don’t like it when Serpents get in the way of that.” 

“Amen,” Sweet Pea mutters behind Betty. 

“Next, we have the Gargoyles,” Jughead continues, ignoring his friend’s comment. “A minor gang that deals in fizzle rocks - the only corner of the drug market the Ghoulies haven’t closed in on. Alice infiltrated them for three weeks for intelligence-gathering purposes last year. It is unknown if they ever found out about it, but if they took her that is most likely why.” 

“The Greendale Coven,” he introduces. “We don’t have much on them, but the leader of the Coven and Alice have had bad blood since their high school days. They’re an unlikely choice, but they are still included.” 

“The last suspects we have,” Jughead says, glancing up at Betty for a moment. “Harold and Polly Cooper.” 

“Excuse me?” Betty asks. “How can they be suspects when we have no idea where they are? Polly isn’t even in the area.” 

“As my father told you last night, the Ghoulies are the prime suspects here,” Jughead replies, evidently unhappy to be interrupted by her. “Harold and Polly are not being excluded from the suspect list, even though it is unlikely they were the ones who took Alice.” 

“They’re family,” She argues. “They wouldn’t. Take them off the list.” 

_ “You’re _ family and I don’t want  _ you _ here,” he counters. “Listen. I’m not the one who  _ put _ them on the list in the first place,” Jughead replies, getting annoyed. “And until you can disprove it, they will  _ stay there.” _

Betty crosses her arms with a frustrated exhale. Jughead is anything but tolerable. Then he starts assigning suspects.

“Toni I’m gonna put you on the Gargoyles. Fangs, you’ve got the Ghoulies. Sweet Pea will be on the Coven. And Cooper…” He smirks smugly. “The prodigal Coopers.” 

“Are you fu—“ Betty begins. 

“I’ll switch with her,” Fangs offers. “That’s a low blow, Jones.” Then he says something peculiar. “It’s not her fault, you know.” The comment rolls off of Jughead’s shoulders but it sits at the back of Betty’s mind. 

“Fine,” Jughead growls. “Ghoulies to Cooper, Coopers to Fangs.” 

“Thanks,” Betty says softly to Fangs. 

“Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent,” he replies sincerely. Betty smiles at his sweet comment. “I got that from  _ The Princess Diaries.” _

She laughs, taking the Ghoulies’ file and giving him the Coopers’ folder. 

**\---**

It isn’t long before the Alice investigation gets moved into a separate meeting room in the workspace. Each suspect gets their own wall in the rectangular room. The Ghoulies and Gargoyles, being more prime suspects, are given the two longer walls, and the Greendale Coven and the estranged Coopers get the smaller walls. 

Betty has all types of stuff pinned to her designated wall - from Alice’s written reports after drug busts to mugshots of major Ghoulie players. She’s been working on learning more about them, as she doesn’t have the context that Sweet Pea, Fangs, and Toni have from dealing with them. 

FP was right when he said the Ghoulies had cornered the drug market in Riverdale. An exceptional amount of their funding comes from drug deals. Because they’ve come as close as they can to monopolizing the drug trade on the Southside, nearly  _ all _ of the money spent on drugs in Riverdale goes to them. 

As she’s also found, her mother has a lot of history with them. She’d gotten access from a flippant Jughead to her mother’s reports she’d filed about the Ghoulies from over the years. There are a lot of those reports, Betty has found. 

She’s looking through the Ghoulies’ file when Jughead walks in the investigation room. Toni, Fangs, and Sweet Pea don’t seem to mind his intrusion from where they’re working from other tables, but she can tell immediately that he hadn’t learned much from the security camera footage from her mother’s kidnapping. 

“What’s the status on training today, boss?” Fangs asks once Jughead has stopped pacing with clenched fists. 

“It’s in an hour, like usual,” Jughead replies. 

“Training?” Betty speaks up, getting the attention of the Serpents in the room. 

“You haven’t given up yet?” Jughead asks dejectedly at the sight of her. 

“You wish, Jones.” 

“Well… I guess if you’re gonna work with us, you should be training with us,” Jughead adds with a scoff. 

“Leave her alone,” Toni chimes in. “She’s not an initiate - she doesn’t have to come if she doesn’t want to.” 

“You’re right, Topaz,” he continues, walking toward the table Betty’s working at. “She doesn’t  _ have _ to… I bet our Northside princess here wouldn’t be up for it anyways.” 

Betty had never liked being challenged. Archie once challenged her at a party to see if she could drink more shots in a minute than he could. Betty knew it was a bad idea. Veronica tried to talk her out of it, but she was already four drinks in and hated when people underestimated her. 

Drunk and/or tipsy Betty didn’t like to lose. 

She drank five more shots than Archie did that night. Ten minutes later she had her head in the toilet, puking up her guts. The street cred it bought her was worth it. 

Jughead doesn’t know about Betty’s peeve when he both challenges and underestimates her in the same breath. 

That comment gets as close to a challenge as Betty’s ever heard. 

“I’m in,” Betty says strongly, standing up straighter. “It’s not like I’ve got much else to do anyways. None of us have found a good lead yet.” 

“You know you don’t have to,” Fangs tells her. “You’re not initiated and--” 

“No, it sounds fun,” Betty interrupts, staring down Jughead. “Jones obviously thinks he has something to teach me, so I’ll let him,” she adds with a coy smile. “I’ll be there.” 

“Wyrm Gym. Three pm.”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Betty replies shortly. 

Jughead turns, saying he has some stuff to do and he’ll be back later. Once the door closes behind him, Betty’s new friends look at her with shock on her features. 

“What?” she asks. 

“You really just agreed to Serpent training stuff without asking what it is?” Toni replies. 

“I think I can handle it,” Betty counters. “Considering what I did to Sweets and Fangs over there the other day, it should be a breeze.” 

“Yeah, but you still don’t know what we’re doing in terms of training.” 

“Well what is it?” 

“Betty will be fine,” Sweet Pea says to Toni. He turns back to Betty. “It’s martial arts stuff.” 

“See? It’ll be fine,” Betty comments. 

“Jones is the best of us when it comes to that stuff, though,” Fangs adds. “FP taught him himself. Jughead teaches  _ us.” _

“I think I can handle some over-confident testosterone,” Betty says. “It will be  _ fine.” _

“I don’t know,” Sweet Pea continues. “Jughead doesn’t like it when people challenge him.” 

“Well neither do I, and he challenged  _ me,” _ Betty defends. 

“We’ve had some recruits like that in the past,” Fangs tells her. “Not to mention that Jughead’s trying to prove himself so he can be Serpent King if FP ever retires.” 

“He doesn’t like competition,” Toni butts in. “He doesn’t like it when people can do what he does.” 

“Then I guess we’ll just have to  _ see _ if I can do what he does,” Betty replies, jumping back into her work. 

**\---**

“You wanted to see me?” Betty asks, entering FP’s office. 

“Yes, yes, come in,” he replies, getting up from his desk. 

Betty notices first how dim and soft the lighting is. The room has a warm feel, even though it’s a mess. There are stacks of papers all over the room, some neater than others. The walls are adorned with snake paraphernalia, along with a large Serpent logo painted on one of them. There’s an old black and white sign bolted above the door, with the words “Whyte Wyrm” on them. 

On his maple wood desk, among the mess, are a few photo frames. Only one faces Betty - one of Jughead and FP with smiles on their faces and leather jackets on their backs. Betty has yet to see the kind of smile from Jughead that she notices in the picture. 

“I just wanted to talk to you about some stuff,” FP says, grabbing Betty’s attention again. “Some stuff you might hear and whether it’s true or not.” 

“Like what?” she asks. FP motions to one of the leather arm chairs in front of his desk. He returns to his seat as Betty sits down too. 

“I know that my son doesn’t quite believe that I’m just friends with your mother,” FP begins. Betty recoils internally. “I just want to assure you that I  _ am _ in fact  _ just friends _ with Alice.” 

“Uh… thanks,” Betty replies, trying not to think about her mother’s love life. 

“I also wanted to talk to you about Jughead,” FP adds, switching topics. “I know he can be difficult.” 

“He doesn’t seem to like me very much,” Betty comments. 

“He’s complicated. And he can be an asshole,” FP tells her. “If he ever upsets you, I just want you to know that you  _ can _ and  _ should _ come to me about it. He’s difficult, especially with Alice. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s like that with you, too.” 

“Why’s he upset with my mom?” 

“They’ve just got conflicting personalities,” he replies. “He also doesn’t really like that your mom and I are best friends. He won’t tell me why even though I’ve tried to get him to open up about it.” 

Betty shrugs as a response, satisfied enough with his answer. 

“I really just wanted to let you know that if you need anything, you can always come to me,” FP tells her. “It is my custody Alice entrusted you with. If you ever need to talk or anything, I know I’m not your mom, but I’m a listening ear.” 

“I appreciate that.” 

“I want you to know that I  _ care, _ Betty,” he adds. “I’ve been hearing about you probably since the day you were born. It’s unfortunate, the circumstances that finally brought me to meeting you.” Betty fiddles with her own fingers, keeping her eyes on FP. “And when Tall Boy made that comment about you having broken his nose, I knew immediately that you were Alice’s daughter.” 

Betty smiles, laughing softly. 

“Ever since Alice returned, after Polly and Hal left, she’s been talking about how she just wants to be a good mother for you because she recognized that she was all you had left,” he continues. “She told me a lot about the things you were doing… but mostly just how  _ proud _ she was of you. Alice has always been so proud of you.” 

“Thanks for telling me that, FP,” Betty says. “I’m glad she has the Serpents to lean on.” 

“Actually…” He trails off, rummaging through one of his desk drawers and pulling something out. “Here it is. Alice gave me this forever ago.” FP hands over an old picture. 

It’s a picture of her. Betty has never seen this picture of her before. She’s cheering at a Bulldog football game, a blue pompom in her raised hand and a stupidly large grin on her face. Alice must have taken it. 

“She wanted to put that picture in the Senior Ad section of your yearbook. That’s probably why you haven’t seen it before,” FP tells her. “Alice is your biggest fan.” 

Betty’s tears start to flow. “We’re gonna get her back,” she says through her tears. “Right?” Betty looks up at FP. 

“I sure hope so,” he replies, coming around the desk. 

Betty stands up, letting FP wrap her in a hug. 

**\---**

45 minutes pass before Betty, Fangs, Sweet Pea, and Toni go get ready for Serpent-mandated training. About twenty more teenage Serpents join them in the Wyrm Gym - what Betty can only describe as what she would imagine an underground boxing ring setup would look like. 

Rock songs blast from the speakers. Hanging punching bags are littered around the room. There’s a boxing ring in the middle, roped off and raised up, with training areas all around it. 

Jughead’s with FP, going at a punching bag on the far side of the room. Betty looks at him curiously while Fangs, Toni, and Sweet Pea talk with some of their other friends. 

He’s shed his beanie and his leather and boots. Jughead’s sweating through a grey wife beater. She can see the toned, sculpted expanses of his arms, shoulders, and back. On one shoulder is a tattoo that looks exactly like the logo found on the back of the leather jacket she finds infuriating. 

Jughead takes one last, hard swing at the punching bag before FP claps his son on the shoulder and hands him a bottle of water. 

As the pair start walking over to the group of teeangers that have accumulated, Betty watches Jughead take a hefty gulp of water and he combs his obsidian curls out of his eyes with one hand. For some reason, Betty can’t take her eyes off of him. 

Then he winks at her and she rolls her eyes, abruptly breaking eye contact. 

“Hey! Start pairing up and working on warm up drills,” Jughead announces to the group. “We’ll get started in a few minutes.” 

Sweet Pea and Fangs pair off immediately, running off to another part of the room. Toni comes to find Betty, but Jughead steps in. 

“I think Lori’s looking for someone to work with,” he tells Toni. “I’ll take Cooper and catch her up to speed.” 

Toni looks between the two of them curiously before she shrugs and walks off. 

“You do know I’m not an ameteur, right?” Betty asks. 

“We’ll see about that,” he shrugs, leading them over to a punching bag. “You do know how to punch, right?” 

“Is that meant to be a serious question?” 

“Hit the bag, Cooper,” he replies shortly. 

She swings her fist, but Jughead taps the bag with his foot. Betty stumbles when her fist doesn’t come in contact with the punching bag. 

“Are you kidding?” 

“Hit the bag, I said,” he repeats, a sly smile on his face. Betty turns back to the punching bag angrily. 

He doesn’t dare trick her again, letting her swing and leave a dent in the punching bag. 

“Harder.” 

Betty swings again with her other fist, harder. 

“I said harder.” 

The bag is starting to swing more with each punch. 

“I know Alice taught you better than that,” Jughead says. “But she’s not here, is she?” 

Betty is starting to work up a sweat. She keeps nailing the bag with each punch. Her knuckles have gone numb. She barely feels the taut material of the punching bag underneath her fists. 

“Show me how angry you are, Cooper,” he taunts in low tones. She keeps throwing punches. “The world keeps taking your family. Show me how angry you are.” 

Betty doesn’t notice the growls she’s emitting with each punch. He’s working her up and she doesn’t notice. 

“Roundhouse,” Jughead says, standing back with his arms crossed. 

Betty kicks without a second thought, her foot making contact with the bag. 

“Again,” he says. She complies. 

“Sidekick.” The bag swings away from Betty once her heel drives into it. “Again.” She hits it as it’s swinging at her, making the bag lose its previous momentum. The chains jingle as it stills. 

They keep going. Jughead calls out for her to kick or punch and Betty executes. He knows all the right buttons to push with his words in order to keep her focused on hitting the punching bag as hard as she can. 

“The universe has picked off the Coopers one by one,” he hisses, a smirk growing on his face from the corner of her eye. “Are you going to be next?” Jughead asks. 

“No,” she says firmly, another jab and punch punctuating her words. 

“Hit harder and you won’t be,” he replies. She hits harder. “More. Give it all you’ve got.” 

It’s been ten minutes when Jughead finally stops her. 

“Not bad,” Jughead says. “For a newbie, anyways.” 

“I’ve been doing this for years, Jones,” Betty replies. “I’m far from a newbie.” 

“You’re a newbie here,” he tells her. “You’re going in the low level group.” 

“What? Why?” she asks. 

“You don’t know anything about this stuff or how we do it here,” Jughead says. “You couldn’t keep up with the high levels in here.” 

“Says you,” Betty fires back. “I took out Sweet Pea and Fangs yesterday. I could take on one of your so-called  _ high levels.” _

“Yeah…” he drags out. “But… they still managed to haul you back here, didn’t they?” Betty rolls her eyes. 

“It was three on one!” Betty protests. “Against  _ three nearly-grown _ men.” 

“Doesn’t matter,” Jughead replies. “At the end of the day, you don’t know how we work around these parts. And I’d look like a fool if I let a Northside princess like  _ you _ into--” 

Betty swings. Jughead blocks. She swings again and he returns it. They dodge each other’s blows.

They’ve stepped away from the punching bag, glaring daggers at each other. They don’t seem to care that they’re about to start actually fighting. 

He goes for a roundhouse and she ducks. Betty tries to sweep his leg but he jumps out of the way. Punches and kicks get blocked and dodged. 

The rest of the Serpents in the gym have stopped what they were doing, instead watching Jughead and Betty have at each other. Nobody’s landing anything, but the level of skill is notably equal. 

Betty comes on with a storm of a combination, pushing him back and making him shuffle away. He returns it with even more force, eventually backing her into the wall by the door. 

Jughead’s about to give Betty a right hook, but she dodges it with her back to the wall. 

Betty nails Jughead in the chest with a strong sidekick and a yell, making him slide back. She comes onto him with a roundhouse and he backs out of the way just in time. 

Betty spins into a 360 crescent kick, jumping up high in the air as she slings her leg around. The ball of her foot slams into the side of his head. 

Betty’s two feet land on the ground again, fists raised in defense. Jughead has been knocked to the ground by the force of her foot. He’s holding his hand to his temple. 

“Gonna get up, Jones?” she taunts. “Gonna let a  _ low level _ like  _ me _ knock you down?” 

Jughead looks up at her with a lowered brow. His eyes have turned a dark shade of blue that Betty can only describe as intoxicating. 

There’s a twitch in Jughead’s knee that Betty misses. Toni doesn’t.

Just before Jughead can sweep Betty’s leg, Toni pulls her away from him. Fangs jumps between them and Sweet Pea goes to Jughead’s side. 

That is the definitive end to Betty’s first training session with the teenage Serpents. 

**\---**

It doesn’t take long for Jughead to come find Betty, trying to kick things up again. 

“COME BACK AND FINISH THE JOB, COOPER!” 

“YOU ASSHOLE!” 

Betty tries to run at Jughead to get another set of licks on him, but she’s held back by Toni and Fangs. Sweet Pea grabs Jughead and lifts him off the ground completely. 

“YOU WERE JUST BEGGING FOR SOMEONE TO PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE!” Betty yells, pointing at Jughead angrily. 

“AS IF YOU COULD HANDLE THAT, PRINCESS!” He replies.

Betty has only been pulled out of the gym for about two minutes by the time that they’re screaming at each other in the middle of the Wyrm for everyone to see. 

“I’VE BEEN WAITING TO KICK YOU IN YOUR SLIMY, SMUG FACE SINCE THE MOMENT I GOT HERE, JONES!” She shouts, trying to yank herself out of Fangs and Toni’s grip. 

“YOU UNGRATEFUL NORTHSIDER--” He doesn’t get much further because Sweet Pea slaps his hand over Jughead’s mouth. 

“Get Betty out,” Sweet Pea tells Toni and Fangs. “I’ve got Jones.” 

“He’s not worth it, Betty!” Fangs says, helping Toni pull her away from Jughead. “You already won.” 

Toni and Fangs still have a hard time dragging her upstairs. 

**\---**

A little over two hours after Toni leaves Betty in her room to cool off, she emerges again in search for food. It doesn’t take long for her to spot Fangs, Toni, and Sweet Pea sitting together. Even though Jughead is sitting with them, Betty still approaches the table. 

“Pull up a chair, Betty,” Sweet Pea says. Jughead starts grumbling but Sweet Pea elbows him. Her three friends quietly make sure Betty and Jughead don’t sit next to each other. She pretends not to notice. 

“We ordered your food for you,” Fangs says once she’s sitting between him and Toni. “Hope you don’t mind.” 

“Thanks, Fangs.”

A few minutes pass in awkward silence. Betty notices that Jughead is holding an ice pack to the side of his head she’d kicked. His eyes are downcast and he’s wearing his normal leather jacket and weird beanie again. 

After what feels like an eternity, five plates of food are placed on the table in front of each of them. Jughead, with the biggest plate of all of them, starts chowing down. The rest of them follow his lead, though with quite less of the shoveling food into their mouths. 

Toni clears her throat mid-meal. “Jughead?” she asks coyly. He provides a grunt as a response, looking at the food on his plate. “Is there something you’d like to say to Betty here?” 

“I don’t think so,” he grovels. Jughead jumps a moment later, likely caused by Sweet Pea kicking him in the shin underneath the table. “Fine,” Jughead grumbles a moment later, putting down his fork just to glare daggers at Betty. “I guess… I’m sorry for working up your anger earlier.” 

“And?” Sweet Pea adds expectantly.

“Underestimating your skill level,” he states. 

“Missing one,” Fangs continues. 

“And trying to sweep your leg once I was already down.” 

Toni nods in approval, turning her head to look at Betty. “Is there something you’d like to say to Jughead, Mini Coop?” 

She sighs. Only a small part of her feels remorse. “I’m sorry for nailing you in the head,” Betty says. 

“Now that’s out of the way,” Toni continues. “Jughead, you have  _ got _ to get over whatever resentments you hold against Alice that you’re projecting onto Betty.” 

“But--” 

“None of what you are upset about currently is Betty’s fault, except for that bruise on your temple,” Toni argues. 

She then whips around to face Betty. “And  _ you _ are not to go beating up Jughead, no matter how much of an asshole he can be.” Jughead starts to protest, but Toni kicks him in the shin without looking at him. “He’s going through some shit at the moment. None of it is your fault. Pay him  _ no _ mind.” 

“Frankly, we’re all going through some shit, T,” Jughead argues. 

“Agreed. All  _ five _ of us are going through some shit,” Toni snaps. “On top of what  _ we _ four and the rest of the Serpents are dealing with, Betty’s last remaining family member is missing.” She stands up. “Your dad has asked us to help  _ find _ Alice, not to aggravate her daughter. And unfortunately, of the losses we’ve taken in the last 36 hours, one we actually have a chance of resolving is out there somewhere.” Toni pushes her chair back so it scrapes against the floor. “I know that I am going to see if I can find any information that may help. Once the rest of you are done eating you’re welcome to join me.” 

With that, Toni leaves and heads toward the investigation room. 

After a few minutes of quiet eating, Fangs and Sweet Pea trudge off in the same direction Toni left. 

It leaves Jughead and Betty alone, one empty chair between them. 

“Listen, Cooper,” Jughead says abruptly, getting her attention. “I shouldn’t have underestimated you like that. Sweet Pea and Fangs kept waving their  _ I told you so’s _ in my face--” 

_ “That’s _ your regret?” Betty asks. “Because they told you so and they’re making you feel like shit?” 

“My regret is the golf ball growing where my temple should be,” he adds. “My point was that Sweets and Fangs warned me that I’d be in deep shit if I irritated you. That’s what I did. I’m now in deep shit.” 

“Indeed you are,” she replies. “If you want me to respect you like the rest of them do, you can’t treat me like I’m some outsider.” 

“You  _ are _ an outsider.” 

“Yes, but I’m only here because my  _ mother _ is one of you,” Betty argues. “I was dragged out of my own home by Sweets and Fangs and that imbecile Tall Boy. I’d much rather be at home with my mom right now, but I can’t do that because I don’t know where she is and I am potentially in danger of ending up how she did.” 

“Yes, but at the same time you’re still not part of us,” Jughead counters. Betty rolls her eyes. “Listen. I want to solve this case so my dad will let me start shadowing him as Serpent King. You want to solve the case to save your mom.” 

“So let’s solve it,” Betty says. “We both get what we want and we go our separate ways.” 

“I doubt we can fully go our separate ways after this is over,” Jughead replies. “You know about Alice’s business here. Besides that, Toni and Sweets and Fangs are your friends now. I doubt you’ve never stopped communicating with friends you’ve made at  _ summer camps. _ There’s no way you wouldn’t try to remain friends with those three.” He takes a sip of water. 

“I notice you didn’t mention yourself,” Betty adds. 

“We’re not friends.” 

“That I agree with.” 

“But our parents are. If not more.” 

“My mom is not getting it on with your dad,” Betty protests, internally gagging at the thought. “She’s still married to my dad.” Jughead starts to say something, but Betty jumps in. “By law, not in practice.” He nods. “I just hope she’s okay.” 

“I’m relentless,” Jughead tells her. “So are you,” he adds. “With our insufferable combination, there’s no way we won’t find her.” 

Betty huffs a laugh, taking a sip of her drink. 

“JUGHEAD!” someone yells. Betty and Jughead turn around to see Toni, Sweet Pea, and Fangs running toward them. 

“What? What is it, T?” he asks frantically, getting up. Betty follows his lead. 

“You’re never gonna believe this, boss,” Sweet Pea adds. 

“Just tell me what it is, for fuck’s sake,” Jughead replies, getting impatient. 

“We have reason to stake out the Gargoyles,” Toni says. “We’ve got video of one of their vans stopping by the Cooper house an  _ hour _ before Alice was snatched.”

_tbc_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is where the Serpents follow the lead... 
> 
> Pretty much everyone except Betty and Jughead, that is.


	4. Distraction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Okay," Betty says. "I'll stay." 
> 
> "We'll find your mom, kid," FP tells her. "I won't stop until we do." 
> 
> "Thanks for everything you've done for me," she replies, reaching in to hug him. "I know my mom appreciates it, wherever she is." 
> 
> FP claps her on the back. "You stay safe here. I'll have Toni or someone call you if we do end up getting your mom back tonight," he says. "This is most likely just going to be a recon mission to see if there's any reason why we should suspect the Gargoyles. We're not going to move in unless we have a good reason to. 
> 
> Behind her, Jughead saunters down the stairs, ready to go. He's dressed like everyone else and he looks like he's excited to be going. Jughead approaches Betty and FP with a grin. 
> 
> "Ready to get this show on the road, dad?" he asks. 
> 
> "We are," FP says. "But you're not going." 
> 
> "Excuse me?" Jughead interjects. "I'm leading the investigation." 
> 
> "And I'm overseeing it," his father adds. "And you're going to stay here. With Betty."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go. This is definitely the climax of Betty and Jughead's "enemies" stage. You'll know it when you read it. 
> 
> I can't promise no more arguments past this chapter, but... 
> 
> Anyways. Enjoy!!!!

_ “We’ve got video of one of their vans stopping by the Cooper house an hour before Alice was snatched.” _

It only takes a few moments for Toni’s words to sink in. 

The group of five runs off to the investigation room first, examining the lead Toni has found. She shows them the video that Peaches n’ Cream brought to their attention. 

(Betty wonders who the hell is coming up with the nicknames in the Serpents.) 

From the security camera footage, Betty watches as a graffiti-ed van comes into view. They’re driving slow past her house. They stop completely for a minute, then they leave. There’s nothing special to her about it except that there aren’t many graffiti-ed vans driving around the Northside… that is, if they ever drive around on the Northside. 

It’s everything to the four Serpents. 

“That’s a Gargoyle van!” Fangs argues, pointing to the computer screen. 

“Highly suspicious,” Sweet Pea adds. “They don’t go on the Northside if they can avoid it.” 

“And it was almost exactly an hour before Alice was kidnapped,” Toni says. “Jug, we’ve got to stake them out or _something.”_

Betty turns to look at Jughead. He’s thinking.

If there’s any potential that the Gargoyles took her mother, Betty wants to follow the lead where it takes them. 

She ponders the possibility that the Gargoyles could have Alice locked up in some dingy room without food or water and she shivers. It’s been 24 hours since she was taken. Betty hates to think what they could have done to her in that amount of time. For all she knows, this investigation could be for naught. 

Betty tries not to think about that. 

Jughead’s blue eyes flick over to meet hers for only a moment before he stands up straight. 

“We need to look into this,” he says. “If the Gargoyles scoped out the Cooper house almost exactly an hour before the abduction, they either have Alice or they missed an opportunity.” 

Before Betty knows it, they're all scrambling to get to FP's office. Jughead is the one that knocks heavily, pounding on the wood with his fist. They're desperate. 

Finally the door swings open and FP looks jarred. The five teenagers stand at the door expectantly. 

"You've got to see this, dad," Jughead tells his father. 

They're all back in the investigation room again quicker than Betty can blink, watching the security footage again. FP's pensive stare is a mirror image of Jughead's while he watches the graffiti-ed van slow and park right in front of Betty's house. 

"That's a Gargoyle van, Mr. Jones," Fangs clarifies, sliding a picture of the same

van toward him. "We don't see these often." 

"Very well," FP says finally. "This requires a stakeout. I'm taking a group in thirty minutes. Get your stuff ready." 

They all scurry in different directions to their rooms as FP makes an announcement

to the rest of the Whyte Wyrm about the stakeout on the Gargoyles. There's an organized type of chaos the announcement causes as people prepare to go. 

Twenty minutes later, Betty's dressed in the darkest clothing she has, ready to go. Toni, Fangs, and Sweet Pea are dressed similarly, but also wrapped in their black leather jackets with emerald green Serpent logos on the back. 

It's only when she approaches them that she is informed of something that would have been nice to know earlier. 

"Betty," Toni says, her smile fading. "What's up?" 

"I'm ready to get my mom back," she replies excitedly. "I've never been on a stakeout before. This'll be fun." 

FP approaches them at the sound of Betty's voice. 

"Cooper, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asks. Betty shrugs, following him away from the group that has gathered to go on the stakeout. 

"I'm so glad we've found where my mom probably is," Betty says. "Is something wrong?" 

"Yeah..." FP begins. "I can't let you come on the stakeout with us." 

"What? Why not?" she asks. 

"I promised Alice I'd keep you safe. If the Gargoyles are the ones that took her and wanted to take you as well, I can't put you in danger by letting you go on this stakeout with us," he clarifies. "Something could go wrong. The group I'm taking is set to be spread out all around the Gargoyles' headquarters. If something happened to you, I wouldn't ever be able to forgive myself," FP adds. "I can barely stand letting your mother get taken, but it would be my greatest failure as a leader if I were to let harm come to you, too." 

Betty wants to fight back. She wants to go, she wants to let him know just what she thinks of getting left behind when there is a high chance her mom could be there. Betty just wants to help, but hearing how upset FP was about letting Alice slip through his fingers on his watch, she couldn't bear to fight him on it. 

"Okay," Betty says. "I'll stay." 

"We'll find your mom, kid," FP tells her. "I won't stop until we do." 

"Thanks for everything you've done for me," she replies, reaching in to hug him. "I know my mom appreciates it, wherever she is." 

FP claps her on the back. "You stay safe here. I'll have Toni or someone call you if we do end up getting your mom back tonight," he says. "This is most likely just going to be a recon mission to see if there's any reason why we should suspect the Gargoyles. We're not going to move in unless we have a good reason to. 

Behind her, Jughead saunters down the stairs, ready to go. He's dressed like everyone else and he looks like he's excited to be going. Jughead approaches Betty and FP with a grin. 

"Ready to get this show on the road, dad?" he asks. 

"We are," FP says. "But you're not going." 

"Excuse me?" Jughead interjects. "I'm leading the investigation." 

"And I'm overseeing it," his father adds. "And you're going to stay here. With  _ Betty." _

Betty facepalms internally. 

"No way, dad. I deserve to go on this stakeout." 

"Really, FP," Betty begins. "You can take Jughead. Toni, Fangs, or Sweet Pea could

stay with me instead." 

If Betty's going to have to stay back at the Wyrm, the least FP could do was leave her with someone she didn't mind being around. Anyone that is not  _ Jughead.  _

"Toni's going to take photos of the Gargoyles' hangout. Sweet Pea and Fangs are part of the muscle just in case something goes wrong." 

"I can be muscle," Jughead argues. "I taught those two everything you've ever taught me!" 

"In case this is a ruse, Jug, I need you here with Betty," FP tells him. 

"Betty can handle herself," Jughead replies. 

"I agree, Betty can handle herself," Betty adds. 

"I'm not debating this," FP says. "If a group of Gargoyles somehow finds this place, I'm not leaving Betty here by herself without someone to look after her." 

"Fine," Betty grumbles. 

"I won't be demoted to babysitting," Jughead replies. 

"You don't have to--" FP cuts himself off with a sigh. "I don't care what you do while we're gone. Keep investigating, go to sleep, go eat dinner. It's not important to me. Just stay here." 

"But--" 

"No buts," FP snaps. "You both stay. That's final." 

From there, Betty and Jughead watch the stakeout party leave without them. 

"This is all your fucking fault," Jughead states once the doors close behind the party. 

"My fault?" Betty inquires. "How the hell is this  _ my _ fault? I wanted to go! I wanted literally anyone but you to stay here with me." 

"I've been sidelined because of you!" Jughead argues. "How is it  _ not _ your fault?!"

Betty groans. "Whatever. I'm gonna go do something else," she says. "Anything to get away from you." 

"Oh no you don't," Jughead replies, grabbing her wrist before she can get too far. "We're not done talking about this yet." 

"I am," Betty fires back, yanking herself out of his grip. "It's not my fault your own dad didn't want you to tag along on his stakeout." 

"You take that shit back," he says as she walks off. 

"Make me, bitch boy," she throws over her shoulder. "You're the one who isn't in danger of getting kidnapped." 

"Get off your fucking high horse there, Princess," Jughead says. Betty can hear his heavy footsteps following behind her. "I'd be on that stakeout if it weren't for you." 

"Tell that to the bruise on your head," Betty snaps. "Your dad was the one who left you here with me. I didn't ask for this shit." 

"It's still your fault." 

"It is NOT!" 

"Is so." 

"Is not!" Betty reaches for the door handle of the investigation room. The door is barely open when Jughead slaps his hand to the wood and pushes it closed. "Leave me the fuck alone," she tells him. 

"No," Jughead replies. "This is entirely your fault. I wanted to be on that stakeout." 

"Did I not already tell you that I wanted to be on it too?" Betty argues. "Because I respect your dad and am thankful for everything he's done for me, I  _ willingly _ stayed behind, unfortunately he made you stay here with me," she says. "The least you can do now that we're both stuck here is leave me the hell alone." 

"No," Jughead states. "We're going to settle this shit, once and for all." 

"How the hell do you propose we do that, Jones?" 

Jughead smirks. Betty rolls her eyes. 

**\---**

Apparently pool is the way that Serpents solve problems. When Jughead suggests it, Betty thinks he's crazy. She hasn't played pool in years. It feels like a very rigged competition in Jughead's favor. 

Even though Betty's logic is against accepting his challenge, her instincts can't resist. He proposes best two out of three games and she's in before her logic really has much of a say. 

"Would you like to break?" Jughead asks, sauntering over to where she's putting chalk on her pool cue. He has the white cue ball in his hand, offering it to her. 

Honestly, Betty has somewhat forgotten how exactly to play. 

"No, you go ahead," she tells him. Part of her wants to see how good he is before she says or does much. 

"Your loss," he replies. Jughead goes over and places the cue ball just where he wants it. Betty's standing at the opposite end of the table, not expecting what he's going to do next. 

Jughead looks at her, his eyes a glowing dark blue as he gives her a once-over, then bites his lip and smirks. With only a quick glance at the setup before him, Jughead shoots his cue forward, successfully breaking the triangle of pool balls on her end of the table. 

The clacking of the different colored balls breaks Betty's reverie. He sinks two solid ones - the five and seven. He lines up and takes another shot but doesn't sink anything. 

"You've got stripes," he says. His tone is almost smug, as if he knows the effect is Jedi mind trick-like teasing did to her. 

Betty remains as stoic as possible as she makes her way over to the cue ball. She's flustered internally because of him now. Betty has never experienced anything like this before. A teenage boy has never gotten under her skin like Jughead had just managed to. 

Betty's hands are sweaty even though she's not nervous. Anxious, maybe. She's so confused. Jughead looking up at her through his brow has done something. She doesn't know what exactly that something is, but it scares her. 

She doesn't like the way that he's affected her, yet she pretends nothing has happened. 

Betty lines up her shot, making a show of getting into the right position. When she fires her cue, she sinks the 14 ball. When she goes to hit another one in, the 11 ball starts to go in but manages to stay on the table. 

"Well, Cooper," Jughead begins. "Looks like we have a game on our hands." 

**\---**

Jughead wins the first round easily. Every time he goes to take his turn, he looks Betty up and down before actually doing anything. The heat of his blue stare and the little lip bite thing he does is so fucking annoying, but she can't make herself look away. 

Betty knows that if she acknowledges it or tells him to knock it off that it's the same as admitting that she's affected by Jughead's attempts to distract her. She knows that she can deal with a hit to her sanity better than she can deal with Jughead winning in whatever silent game he's playing. 

He affects her so much that by the time he sinks the 8 ball, she still has three striped balls left on the table. 

Jughead resets the pool table. 

"You know... you don't have to go easy on me," he says, holding out the cue ball. 

It is at that moment that Betty decides two can play at the teasing game. 

When reaching to grab the white ball from Jughead's hand, Betty's fingertips purposefully miss, dragging across his wrist ever so lightly. When she finally takes the ball from him, she swears his ears are as red as cherries. The only reason she can't be sure is because his crown-cut beanie covers most of his ear. 

When Betty breaks for the second game, she makes sure to bat her eyes at him before taking her shot. If Jughead's going to play flirty, she's going to make sure she does it better. 

Jughead continues with his piercing stares before he takes his turns. Betty observes for a while before she does too much. 

She's got him pinned by his fourth turn. Just before Jughead shoots, Betty drops something and makes a show of bending over to pick it up. 

He scratches. 

Betty distracts him so hard that he scratches the cue ball. It goes right into a pocket. 

She cheers internally. Betty reaches into the pocket to retrieve the cue ball, then smiles smugly at him. Jughead shoots a glare at her. 

Bingo. 

Two people  _ can _ play at this game. 

Betty is reminded of this fact when she lines up to shoot and Jughead starts taking off his leather jacket. His shirt rides up just enough to where she can see a peek of his slender, toned torso.

She doesn't scratch like he did earlier, but she misses the ball she was aiming for. Jughead doesn't say anything, but he's smirking like he knows what he's done.

The teasing and taunting goes back and forth and back and forth, so much so that they end up locked in a battle for who can hit the 8 ball in first. Technically, Jughead gets it, but he called the wrong pocket, so it came back out. 

The shenanigans continue, but it's only when Betty ignores Jughead wiping his brow with the bottom hem of his shirt that she's able to sink the 8 ball into the correct hole. He's evidently unhappy with her victory, but she still skips off to the bathroom while he resets the pool table for their third and final game. 

As she washes her hands in the sink and looks in the mirror, Betty has an idea. 

Two minutes later, she walks out of the bathroom with her hair down in her natural loose, blonde waves. 

Jughead scratches on the break. 

Betty wants to laugh in his face. She wants to do it so bad. Part of her knows that  she needs to finish what she's started. 

Beginning what she's started becomes harder once Jughead takes the teasing up three notches. As Betty comes around to his side of the table to successfully break, Jughead steps in the way just enough so that his chest grazes her back. 

Her breath hitches. He stumbles just a little and one of his hands ghosts on her hip. When Betty lines up her shot a few seconds later, Jughead's grinning. She manages to actually break the triangle of different colored pool balls even though none of them go in. 

It's no longer just the visual, unspoken teasing that becomes infuriating. They're actually, purposefully touching each other. 

After a particularly tricky shot that Betty makes, she drags her finger across Jughead's t-shirt-clad chest as she moves to the cue ball. Jughead drags his finger between her shoulder blades and tracing down her spine until he's about halfway down her back. 

"There was a fly on you," he explains. It’s a lie. Betty's on the edge of combusting. 

She misses on her next two turns. Her hands are sweating and she's almost ready to crack. He's infuriating, teasing her like this. 

Jughead's starting to get frustrated, too. He has two balls left on the table by the time Betty starts working on the 8 ball. 

In a shocking turn of events, Jughead removes that weird grey beanie. Betty is struck dumb by how perfectly touseled his inky hair is. She doesn't remember it, but she's pretty sure she actually picked up her jaw from the floor. 

The few black curls that fell in front of his cobalt eyes are what actually, in Betty's mind, makes him end up coming back and winning. He hits the 8 ball into the correct pocket on his first try, successfully winning the game. 

Betty's so flustered that she doesn't really care. 

"You know," he says, sidling up to her after he's made the winning shot. "If you ever want a few pointers, I can show you some of my tricks." Jughead smirks and Betty feels like she's going to melt under his gaze. 

It's so fucking unfair. 

She takes the bait. 

"Really?" she asks, trying to sound genuine. 

Jughead reaches into a pocket and pulls out the 8 ball again, then lines the cue ball up with it. He motions for Betty to come closer and she obliges, thinking of ways she could potentially gain an advantage here. 

"What you want to do is hit it at just the right angle," he begins. "You want the cue ball to hit the 8 so that it'll head toward the pocket but the cue ball won't." 

Betty has an idea. 

She takes a moment before getting into a position she knows would wave a red flag. 

"Like this?" she asks. 

"Not quite." 

Jughead's too egotistical to see the ruse Betty's drummed up within his veiled attempt at "helping" her. He plays right into her trap. 

Jughead wastes no time in bringing his arms around Betty to guide her hands and arms into the correct position. One of the first things she notices is how warm he is and how his chest is a bit more bony than she'd expected when it's pressed against her back. 

"Bring your right foot back," he says softly into her ear. "Good." A shiver runs down Betty's spine that ends with a tingling in her toes. He smells like leather with a subtle hint of cologne. Jughead's hands are on top of hers, guiding her hands into a correct grip on the pool cue. "Now... you just pull it back and--" 

She nails an elbow into Jughead's sternum that causes him to go toppling to the floor with a pain-induced groan. 

With him on the ground, Betty expertly hits the 8 ball into the pocket. She turns  around once she's standing up straight and looks down at him crumpled on the ground. 

"What the fuck?!" he coughs, his arms braced over where she hit him. 

"You told me to pull it back," Betty replies innocently, smirking. 

He coughs a few more times before his leg sweeps across the ground. Betty jumps up  at his attempt to get her on the ground with him and seats herself on the edge of  the pool table. 

"Very funny, Jones," Betty says. "Maybe next time you'll actually be the winner here." 

"I won the game," Jughead wheezes. 

"Ah yes, but who exactly is coughing like they've got pneumonia?" 

In a matter of seconds, Jughead composes himself and gets back on his feet. 

"You're gonna pay for that one, Cooper," he tells her. 

"Cash or credit?" she asks. "Actually, do you take checks?" Betty grins from ear to ear as her legs swing back and forth, hovering above the ground. 

His face scrunches in malcontent at her comment. 

“Well, that’s not a pretty face,” Betty tells him. “Gimme a smile, Jones,” she teases. 

When his brow furrows more, she takes matters into her own hands. Literally. Her hands reach up to his face, her thumbs ready to make the corners of his mouth turn upwards. 

Before she can get there, he grabs both of her wrists in his hands and holds them there in a death grip. 

“Very funny,” she comments sarcastically. “Let go.” 

“You know,” he begins. “I think I know a better way to settle this bullshit.” 

Betty pushes him away from her with a kick to his chest, making him let go of her wrists. 

“Let’s  _ dance, _ Jones,” she replies darkly. 

**\---**

It’s only been a few hours since their first fight in the Wyrm Gym when Betty and Jughead return to it. The gym is empty as they walk while smack talking each other. Jughead has his leather jacket slung over his shoulder but he throws it to the side, along with his beanie. 

“Are you sure you want to do this, Princess?” he asks over his shoulder. “I’m not going easy on you this time.” 

“Give me a challenge this time, Jones,” Betty snaps, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. “Last time was too easy.” 

Jughead jumps up and into the boxing ring, where he rids himself of his t-shirt. It leaves behind a white wifebeater that exposes the muscles in his arms, shoulders, and back. Betty’s a bit distracted, but she eventually joins him in the ring. 

“You’re going down this time, Cooper,” Jughead says, kicking off his shoes. 

“Yeah, tell that to the bruise on your brain,” she chides, toeing her shoes off as well and throwing them outside the ring. “Don’t let it alter your judgement, Jones.” 

Jughead throws the first punch and Betty ducks just in time to dodge it. She nails him under the arm he swung with, hitting the soft part of his side rather than his ribs. 

He turns around, holding his side for a moment before he lunges at her again. She blocks his punch and kicks him in the chest to get him away from her. 

“I thought I told you to give me a challenge!” Betty taunts. 

She goes into a roundhouse followed by the same 360 crescent kick she landed earlier. 

Betty’s blindsided when Jughead completely knocks her out of the air. She lands on the ground with a thud. He starts toward her, but Betty jumps back up. 

“You can do better than that, Princess,” he comments smugly. 

They continue their violent dance. Betty swings on him, but he catches her punch and counters with two hits to her gut that have her knees wanting to give out. 

The anger between them is rising as both of them put all of their energy into the fight, and the frustration builds when hits are blocked or dodged. 

Betty’s heel slams into Jughead’s chest with a sidekick, but she doesn’t retract her foot quick enough. He grabs it and knocks her off her balance, making her fall to the floor again. 

She does the exact same thing to him a minute later. 

They’re starting to wear themselves down. There are bruises forming on their bodies. Unlike their previous fight, this time they’re actually landing hits. They have each kicked each other in the jaw at least once, evidenced by their mutual split lips with dried and smeared blood on their chins. 

Betty successfully sweeps Jughead’s leg, but she isn’t quick enough to keep him on the ground. 

They’re starting to get sloppier. The fight is taking a toll on both of them, especially considering the fact that they’ve already fought once that day. 

“Give up, Northside Princess,” Jughead taunts. 

“In your dreams,” Betty spits. She can taste blood and the saltiness of her sweat in her mouth. It keeps her motivated. 

“You asked for it,” he grumbles angrily. 

Before Betty can comprehend it, Jughead’s flying at her with a combination. 

It ends with a sharp kick to the nasty bruise on Betty’s arm from Tall Boy’s grip the previous day. 

Betty cries out in pain and crumples to the ground. She can’t get up fast enough. 

Jughead swings his leg over her and sits on her abdomen, then takes her wrists and pins them above her head, on the floor. He’s breathing heavily with a smug smirk on his face. 

Betty struggles underneath him, trying to remove herself from his grip unsuccessfully. 

“Not fair,” she pants.

“Done yet, Cooper?” he asks. Betty continues to wriggle underneath him. She notices that he bounces upwards when she puts enough force underneath him. 

“Fat chance,” she grunts, a bit of spit flying out of her mouth. 

Betty bucks her body up enough so that she can pull one leg up. She digs her heel into Jughead’s groin as he comes back down, then kicks him off of her. 

He screams in pain and bounds backwards, landing flat on his back. 

Betty is quick to act, jumping up and pinning  _ him _ to the floor just like he’d done. 

Once Jughead stops groaning in pain, it’s not hard for him to flip the script on her once more, forcing Betty on her back again. He holds her down much more firmly this time, not relenting as he sits on her. 

“Give it up, Cooper,” he growls. Her hands start to come off the ground but he slams them back onto the floor. “At least you’ll have your dignity.” 

Betty really doesn’t want to let him win. The words slip out of her mouth before she can stop herself. 

“Well at least I have a  _ life!” _

Jughead scowls. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” 

“Where is it then, huh? Where’s your life outside these walls?” 

He squeezes her wrists tight, making her fingers go tingly. There’s anger written across his features.

“Shut the fuck up before you say something you’ll regret, Princess,” Jughead tells her. 

She can see he’s absolutely serious. He’s cutting off the circulation to her hands. 

“Fine,” she tells him. “You win.” 

After another second, Jughead lets go of her wrists and stands up. 

Betty sweeps his leg a moment later, sending him plummeting to the floor with a groan. She laughs. 

“Fuck you!” he yells. Betty can tell he’s exhausted too by the way he starts laughing with her. 

“What the hell are we doing?” she laughs. “What’s wrong with us, fighting over petty shit like this?” 

Jughead groans and repositions himself so he’s laying on his back next to her. “I don’t know,” he says. “But what I do know is that I need to stop fighting you.  _ Fuck,  _ Cooper.” 

“I don’t even hate you that much. You’re just fucking annoying when you underestimate me,” Betty adds, starting to catch her breath as she turns her head toward him. “Hey.” He turns his head toward her. “Why the hell do you hate me and my mom so much?” 

Jughead sighs. “For the longest time I’ve thought your mom was moving in on my dad,” he says. “Hearing you say today that Alice and my dad are just friends... I think that was the first time I actually believed it coming from someone else’s mouth.” 

“So… you hate her because… you’re jealous she’s moving in on your dad,” Betty says. 

“Are you trying to implicate that  _ I _ would rather move in on my father?” Jughead asks seriously. 

“No,” Betty replies. “But he’s your dad. And you’ve obviously got some sort of special relationship - just you two. Probably not too much different from what I have with my mom. But if you thought my mom was moving in on your dad, that would kinda burst that bubble, wouldn’t it?” 

“When the hell did you become a psychiatrist, Cooper?” Jughead asks. She barks out a laugh. “I don’t want my dad trying to—“ 

Betty notices how he stops himself. Jughead sighs before continuing. 

“I don’t want him trying to replace my mom. And my sister,” he says quieter. “They left town the year after your dad ditched you and Alice. They’re in Toledo now. With my mom’s parents.” 

“At least you know where your family members are,” Betty sighs. “I haven’t heard from my sister since I said goodnight to her on the night of her high school graduation, but I’m sure your dad told you all about that.” 

“Actually, he didn’t,” he replies. “He mostly kept it between himself and Alice. He hasn’t told me much outside of the fact that they left. And even then it was mostly for context purposes.” Jughead looks at the ceiling. “My dad only told me about it when he decided you needed to be brought into protection because I was being a little bitch about it.” 

“What exactly did he say?” She asks, curious. 

“Well I was the one suggesting that you should have other family members you could be with and blah blah blah and I was very insistent on that so he told me about your actual situation so I would shut the hell up,” Jughead says. 

“Sometimes I forget your default setting is  _ prick,” _ Betty adds. “Like, you’re not just rude to me just to be rude but that’s just how you are normally.” 

“My default setting actually  _ isn’t  _ being a prick,” he tells her. “When I was arguing against bringing you into protection I was also upset about something that happened during your mom’s abduction.” 

“What are you talking about?” She asks. “What else happened?”

“My dad didn’t want you knowing, mostly because it would make you feel guilty or anxious, but… the kidnappers  _ were _ violent,” he says. Betty’s eyes snap open as she watched Jughead explain. “They were armed. When they left with Alice, we know she was alive and struggling against them. We have recordings of it that I’m not allowed to show you.” 

“So that bloody rock I found on the kitchen island…” 

“It was likely used to hurt someone,” he tells her. “But… there were also a few armed ones that made sure the perimeter was clear.” 

“Was it clear?” She asks. 

“No.” She notices Jughead swallows harshly. “We had three scouts with eyes on your house. They found two of them - Baby Teeth and Joaquin.” He stops, taking a deep breath. “They killed them. The third scout was able to get away. He couldn’t take on that group by himself.” 

“Let me get this right,” Betty begins. “You blame my mom for the deaths of two Serpents?” 

“They wouldn’t have been there if we didn’t believe your house worth protecting in the first place,” Jughead argues. 

“So you hold it against me too, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do,” he tells her point blank, starting to get worked up. “If it weren’t for you and Alice, they’d both still be alive!” 

“I’m not going to tell you it’s not my fault here because I guess we are partially to blame, but who was the one that put them on that scout detail?” she asks defensively. 

“FOR FUCK’S SAKE,  _ I DID!” _ he admits loudly. 

It’s very quiet between them for the heaviest five seconds Betty has ever experienced. Jughead’s staring at the ceiling, but she hasn’t taken her eyes off of him. 

“I did,” he repeats quieter. 

Jughead rolls away from her, laying on his side. Betty sits up and puts a hand on his shoulder. 

“It’s not your fault, you know,” Betty tells him. “That’s what my mom told me when my dad ran off. And when my sister ran off,” she explains. “Sometimes we can’t help it. Sometimes things just  _ are. _ And we’re not always in control of everything.” 

Jughead shrugs her hand off of him by rolling his shoulder back. 

“We both know that if you had known what was going to happen, you wouldn’t have sent scouts to my house,” Betty continues. “The same thing would have happened whether they were there or not. My mom would still be kidnapped. And if I could turn back time to make sure those scouts were safe, I would.” 

He doesn’t reply. 

“It’s what Toni was talking about earlier,” Betty states in realization. “When she was talking about the losses the Serpents have taken. It was the scouts and my mom, wasn’t it?” 

She watches Jughead nod once, indicating she’s right. 

“And the shit you four are going through… it’s the loss of the scouts.” 

“They have  _ names,” _ Jughead jabs. “They’re people.” 

“And you blame your own leadership internally, but you’d never admit that,” Betty continues. “So you blame me and my mom for it. And beyond that you’ve been projecting your resentments against my mom toward me, too.” 

Jughead flips over and sits up, finally facing her with a scowl on his face. Betty stops him from potentially lashing out at her by placing her hands on his shoulders. He freezes. 

“Stop,” she says softly. His face softens. “It’s not your fault.” 

Betty feels his breath hitch. He’s about to say something, but he stops himself. 

“It’s not your fault, Jughead,” Betty repeats. “It’s not anyone’s fault here. Not yours, not mine, not my mom’s.” She pauses, watching his eyes glaze over. “Whoever took my mom… it’s  _ their _ fault… okay?” 

“Yeah,” he replies so softly it’s barely audible. His chin drops just a hair and she loses eye contact with him.

“Say it,” she tells him. 

His bold eyes meet hers again. Jughead blinks a few times, one clear droplet forming in the corner of his eye. 

“It’s… not my fault,” he says. 

“That’s right,” Betty adds. “It’s  _ not _ your fault.” 

“It’s not my fault,” Jughead repeats with a sigh. He looks relieved now that he’s gotten the words off of his chest. Betty can see something shift in him. “I’m sorry,” he tells her. “I’ve been unfair to you, Cooper. Ever since you got here I’ve treated you like a nuisance.” 

“Yeah, that was pretty terrible of you,” she agrees, letting her hands fall back to her sides. “I’m sorry for kicking the shit out of you.” 

“Which time?” he asks with a ghost of a chuckle. 

“All… three? Four times?” she replies. “I don’t know, I’ve lost count at this point. I’m going to go with  _ all _ of the times I’ve kicked the shit out of you.” 

“I guess that’s fair,” Jughead says. “I’m sorry about purposefully kicking your bruise. There’s no excuse. It was a cheap shot.” 

Now that Jughead mentions it, Betty can feel the purplish-green bruise throbbing. 

“Actually, let’s go get you some ice for that,” he says, getting up on his feet. 

“That’s probably a good idea,” Betty replies, taking his outstretched hand and letting him help her to her feet. 

They gather their belongings. Once they’re both decent, Jughead escorts Betty out to the bar to get her an ice bag for her arm. 

**\---**

By the time there’s a bag of ice strapped to Betty’s bruise and they’ve each gotten a soda from the bar, Jughead and Betty have come to an agreement. 

They decide a few things. 

They’re not going to fight anymore. Arguments are not off the table, but nothing physical. 

They’re going to buckle down and actually work together when necessary. Whatever rivalry stuff they have will be put to the side when they’re working on the investigation. 

“I’m going to try my hardest to not let whatever grudges I have with your mom affect my behavior toward you,” Jughead adds on the end of their list. “It’s not fair to you, Cooper. You don’t deserve that.” 

“That’s very mature of you,” Betty replies. “I would promise not to kick your ass anymore, but that’s already on the list.” 

He chuckles and drains what’s left of his soda. 

“Hey… what time is it?” Betty asks. Jughead checks his watch. 

“Almost 1:30AM,” he tells her. They both groan. “While we continue to wait for the party to come back…” Jughead begins. “I’m going to beat your Galaga score.” 

He jumps up and runs toward the arcade console. 

“Nooooo, I worked so hard for that!” Betty calls, chasing after him. “I played for forty-five minutes straight for that score!”

Over the course of fifty-two minutes, Betty watches Jughead try and fail to beat her high score. She’s pulled up a stool so she could sit and watch him crash and burn and only leaves a few times to get refills of ice water from the bar. 

Betty has to hand it to him - he’s chipped away slowly at her score. Jughead managed to beat the high score that  _ Betty _ beat earlier that day, but her score remained on top. 

Every time he would fail, Betty never said anything. She just looked at him smugly and grinned. 

The competition between them was the polar opposite of when they’d been playing pool. Pool had been electrically charged in more ways than one. This was playful competition. They weren’t trying to prove a point to each other. 

Jughead just wanted his high score back. Betty knows he’s not going to get it. That doesn’t stop her from continuing to push him into round after round, trying to encourage him. She knows he’s going to fail, but that just makes it funnier when he does. 

He’s on the latest of his many attempts when the recon party comes back. 

Betty notices how tired they look when they come back. Many of the adult Serpents automatically head up to their apartments upstairs. Toni, Fangs, and Sweet Pea are looking around when they finally spot Jughead and Betty walking towards them. 

“Holy shit, what the hell did you two  _ do?” _ Toni asks. 

In retrospect, Betty knows she and Jughead should have thought through how they would explain to their friends why the hell they looked so beat up. Waiting up for them  _ maybe _ wasn’t the right choice, considering all three of their friends would be there to assess the damage afterwards. 

Considering they’ve both got split lips and are sore from their fight, Toni’s question isn’t shocking. They just consider themselves lucky that FP’s not paying attention to their conversation.

“I thought I told you, Betty. Stop kicking Jughead’s ass,” Toni adds. 

“Eh, we did it to each other,” Betty replies. “We’re fine, really.” 

“You have a bag of ice taped to your arm,” Fangs comments skeptically. 

Betty, in response, removes the ice bag and sets it on a nearby table. 

“Dad, did you find anything?” Jughead asks, changing the subject. “Is Alice with the Gargoyles?” 

“No,” FP sighs. “Sorry, Betty. The Gargoyles don’t have her.” 

“How can that be possible?” Betty asks. “We have their van on tape.” 

“When we decided that the building looked vacant enough to breach, we searched every room in the Gargoyles’ hideout,” Sweet Pea informs them. “There was one dude inside and he said the Gargoyles skipped town two weeks ago. One of their vans got hijacked last month.” 

“Whoever has Alice has the van,” Jughead concludes. 

“So the van was… a distraction?” Betty asks. “Something to throw us off the scent?”

“That’s what we’re thinking, kid,” FP replies. “Sorry it didn’t turn out to be anything. We’re right back where we started.” 

As Betty and Jughead glance at each other, they know they’re back to square one and nowhere closer to figuring out where Alice is. 

After a few reassuring words from FP, Toni, and Fangs, Betty heads up to her room for the night, exhausted from waiting up for so long. 

She cries herself to sleep, wishing she knew her mother was safe. 

What Betty doesn’t know is that Alice has been tied to a cold, metal chair for more than 24 hours with very little food or water. 

She’s had several visitors, none too pleasant. 

Alice has yet to see one person that will be the most unpleasant of all. 

Already, she has dried blood on her clothes and rope burn on her wrists, ankles, and arms. 

Her face and ego are bruised, but Alice doesn’t stop fighting. 

She won’t stop fighting until she can see her daughter again.

_ tbc :) _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It got a lil hot in here, didn't it? 
> 
> Jughead told Betty a lot, but there were a few key details he left out that Betty may figure out on her own. 
> 
> Up next the teens get an FP-mandated day off (they're supposed to be on fall break, after all - might as well act like they're regular teenagers for a chapter).

**Author's Note:**

> There WILL be answers to your questions. 
> 
> Not all of them at the same time, but... a lot of them will be answered in the next chapter. 
> 
> Leave a comment or something if you're feeling spicy! Thanks for reading!


End file.
